The Xi Zeta Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity hosted Sleep Out for the Homeless on Tuesday night in Wolf Plaza to raise awareness for homelessness and gather clothing donations for Raleigh homeless shelters. From Tuesday evening to early Wednesday morning, the chapter played music and distributed food while receiving contributions.
Alonzo Fullenwilder, president of the chapter and a fourth-year studying mechanical engineering and Africana studies, started publicizing the event before winter break to encourage students to return with donations.
“I talked to a lot of the older brothers from our chapter, and years ago they did it when they were on campus,” Fullenwilder said. “We collectively decided that we should do it to raise awareness about homelessness and that it would be a perfect thing to do on Founder’s Day because our fraternity was founded on January 9, 1914. We thought it would be a great way to spend Founder’s Day together raising awareness and doing service.”
Jordan Anderson, vice president of the chapter and a fourth-year studying environmental tech and management, discussed how the chapter’s establishment has influenced their efforts to tackle homelessness that affect students and the community.
“We are just continuing the legacy of our older brothers in the chapter who started this program,” Anderson said. “We have students on campus who are experiencing homelessness, so we just wanted to make sure this conversation was being started.”
Kendra Wright, a fourth-year studying computer engineering, donated a few of her siblings’ coats after returning home from break.
“People are homeless, but they need help to get out of their circumstances,” Wright said. “Anything that I can do to help them is something positive because they can’t get out of this situation by themselves.
Jesse Simmons, a 2014 NC State alumnus, attended the event to support the fraternity and their cause.
“I think raising awareness about homelessness is super important because a lot of our students do experience homelessness, either currently or have,” Simmons said. “I hope that with all the events that happen around homelessness, including this one, students start to have the conversation about why are people homeless. I think we will start to get to a place where we realize people aren’t homeless because of decisions they made or individual circumstances, but because of a broader system and systems that oppress certain types of people.”
Sarah Wright, Student Support Services academic coach and Pack Promise coordinator, serves as co-chair of a food and housing security initiative that also emphasizes assistance and support of NC State students struggling with homelessness and food insecurity.
“Traditionally, we think of the students that live in a dorm having a family, a home to go back to during breaks,” Wright said. “But there are students, who their family may be homeless themselves, so they don’t have that permanent residence to go back to, or they don’t have a family. That may mean that they’ve aged out of foster care, so they have no family or a stable family in which they live with full-time.”
With several instances and examples of what being without a home means, NC State students and faculty are trying to bring to light the issue while teaching people what the campus has to offer. Listed below are a few of NC State’s resources and programs to help meet basic student needs:
- Feed the Pack, a university food pantry located in 1333 Broughton Hall
- TRIO programs, whose Student Support Services are located in 204 Park Shops
- SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits for eligible college students
- Women’s Center, located in 5210 Talley Student Union
The Xi Zeta chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity gather around shelters set up in Wolf Plaza at their event "Sleep Out for the Homeless" on Tuesday. The event seeks to raise awareness about homelessness as well as serve as a receptacle for donations to a local homeless shelter. Music, dancing and hot chocolate were presented to those who chose to attend and give back to the community by donating clothes, coats or blankets.
