HELL’S KITCHEN, Manhattan (PIX11) — More than 50 stars of the stage and screen spent the night on Sunday sleeping on a New York City sidewalk.
The event was held to raise awareness of youth homelessness. Organizers say one in 10 youth across the country will experience homelessness, according to a recent study by the University of Chicago.
“It was a night that changed my life forever,” Rachel Brosnahan, the star of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” said of her first time participating in the event. “I got to meet some of the young people who called Covenant House home, and I sat across the table from a young man who was 23. I was also 23 at the time, and I was just so struck by the fact that with just a few small shifts in circumstances, we could be standing on other sides of the table from one another.”
Sunday was her 11th year being part of the Stage and Screen Sleepout to raise awareness and money to combat youth homelessness.
Participants have raised more than $3 million annually.
“We make it very clear. We are not replicating homelessness for the actors,” Colleen Veldt, associate vice president for development at Covenant House told PIX11 News. “We are here to raise awareness and funds.”
The executive director of Covenant House New York, Dr. Shakeema North added: “Our message to the LGBTQ community is this is a safe space for them.”
One of those supporting Covenant House by sleeping out was Dom Gervasi, who was a runaway from his Bensonhurst family in 1986 when he was just 17. Covenant House helped him, so this is his way of giving back.
“For me, Covenant House was a way for me to overcome my shame to ask for help,” Gervasi told PIX11 News.
Gervasi is now the successful owner and producer of Made In Brooklyn Tours.
Many of the actors who participated in the sleepout have done it before, like Claybourne Elder, who appears in “The Gilded Age” and “Company.” This is his sixth sleepout.
“I ask everyone to donate,” he said.
If you’d like to donate, visit Covenant House.org to find out how.
