Kennesaw State students sleep out for homelessness

MARIETTA — Dozens of warmly dressed Kennesaw State students hunkered down in cars and makeshift tents on the university’s Marietta campus Friday night to draw attention to the plight of Cobb’s homeless population.

The annual event was organized by KSU’s CARE Services and the nonprofit Cobb Collaborative. Its purpose is to raise awareness of those without a place to call home and the students who attend class each day on an empty stomach without knowing where they will sleep or where their next meal will come from.

CARE Services, which stands for Campus Awareness, Resource and Empowerment, offers emergency housing, scholarships and assistance on both campuses and provides food to more than 200 students annually, said Marcy Stidum, the program’s director. The center, which relies heavily on donations, has one dorm on each campus and has helped house more than 25 students over the last year.

“We try to show people what homelessness and hunger look like in this century,” Stidum said. “A lot of people imagine a middle-aged guy sleeping outside and don’t realize that college-age students represent that fastestgrowing homeless population in America.”

Friday’s event was part of the school’s 10th Homelessness Awareness Week and included a candlelight vigil to commemorate more than 30 people in Cobb who died over the last two years without a home. Addressing a crowd of about 100 at the vigil, KSU President Sam Olens praised Stidum and her program.

He said CARE provides assistance to hundreds of students each year suffering from homelessness and food insecurity.

“When they go to the pantry, there are no questions,” Olens said. “If they say they need assistance, they are provided that assistance. And without support from the greater community, help for these students would simply not be possible.”