WKU students gathered on South Lawn Thursday evening, setting up camp for a night of activities in the annual Phi Beta Sigma’s “Sleep Out for the Homeless” event.

The Epsilon Theta Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma, a historically African American fraternity, holds the event each year to raise awareness of those facing homelessness. This year it also collected donations to be sent to local shelters.

Yhon Bazira, sophomore Phi Beta Sigma Director of Social Action and event coordinator, introduced multiple guest speakers to share personal stories and inform attendees of resources in Bowling Green.

Carlos Bailey, Bowling Green city commissioner, highlighted various causes of homelessness and called for the youth of Bowling Green to make a collective effort to solve the issue.

“We live in a world where many people are just one unexpected event from being homeless,” Bailey said. ”Whether it’s volunteering, raising awareness, donating to charities or simply offering a kind word and dignity to someone who is struggling, you can make a difference.”

Amelia Kolb, Assistant Director of Student Activities, shared her perspective of seeing students on campus who struggle to find a consistent shelter while studying at the university.

“WKU receives an influx of calls for students who have no home to return to [during breaks],” Kolb said. “Staff works to the best of their ability to ensure these students are housed. However, limited resources can often make this a challenge.”

Local organizations gave out business cards and resources for students to volunteer and find more information on the cause.

Beth Wheeler,  House On the Hill co-chair, emphasized the importance of stable housing.

“It’s been proven that having stable, reliable, attainable housing is a key to thriving as a human being,” Wheeler said. “When people get into a shelter that they feel safe in at night, they are dramatically more likely to reach out for other services they may need.”

Wheeler also shared long-term plans for her to help resolve the housing issue in Bowling Green.

“We are working on getting funding through grants and private donors to purchase 14.3 acres here in Warren County, where we will build a hundred single-family affordable housing homes,” Wheeler said. “We really want to build not just houses but community for people.”

The Phi Beta Sigma fraternity accepted student donations of things like canned goods, non perishables, and hygiene products that will be sent to local shelters.

“This is my second year coming here and I came back because it’s for a good cause, I want to give back to the community in any way I can,” said Kamari Mozee, a sophomore dental hygiene major who brought canned goods.

After all the speakers and activities took place, Phi Beta Sigma members and many other students spent the rest of the night sleeping in their tents until 7 a.m.

Javeon Manning, a senior sports management major and the President of Phi Beta Sigma was pleased to see how far the event has come since its introduction in Fall 2021. He’s hopeful that the event can grow much larger in the future.

“Homelessness can happen to anybody, so by any means, we’re going to do what’s necessary to decrease the issue in Bowling Green,” Manning said, “We’re at the age where we can still develop and learn, so it’s always good to pick up on what we can do to help people while we’re here.”

News Reporter Larkin Ivory can be reached at [email protected].