Teenagers experience homelessness, hunger

On the night of Nov. 17, CYO members from St. Francis Xavier and St. Angela Merici parishes slept on a sheet of cardboard or in boxes in the yard outside the former St. Francis Xavier Church on Metairie Road. The event was called “One Night Without a Home.” To get a sense of the daily struggles of those with no shelter, the teens gave up electronics, food, mattresses, cots, pillows, lanterns, fans and heaters. The event also was used to collect new or gently used coats, jackets, sweatshirts, hats, gloves, socks, toiletries, canned goods and paper products for St. Francis Xavier’s Deacon Ed Coudrain Food Bank and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. “From being homeless for a night, I learned that you have to put your trust in the generosity of others and that sleeping on the ground isn’t comfortable at all,” St. Mary’s Dominican junior Gillen Briede said.