Power of SUNY

SUNY Brockport Tent City Project Raises Awareness of Homelessness

The Student Social Work Organization (SSWO) at SUNY Brockport camped out in Nov. 2010 to raise funds for the House of Mercy, a local homeless shelter. The overnight event is called the Tent City Project.

This national initiative is sponsored twice each year on the SUNY Brockport campus. Students, employers and volunteers of Habitat for Humanity, and others reside in cardboard boxes for the two-day event. The participants, who set up their boxes in the center of campus, aim to raise awareness for homelessness in Rochester and beyond.

Money raised provided 340 hot meals as well as advocacy services, drop-in assistance, overnight stays, holiday dinners and gifts, and services at Farbridge House Ministry for individuals with substance abuse problems.