The temperature last year was 3 degrees Fahrenheit when they slept outside.
"There is something about being out there when it's pretty cold to identify even a little bit more, even in a small way, with people who are homeless in the wintertime," said Valerie Strand Patterson, a pastor at St. Philip the Deacon Lutheran Church in Plymouth.
Patterson is a part of a hardy group of six clergy sleeping outside for the annual Sleep Out campaign that benefits Interfaith Outreach & Community Partners (IOCP) and kicks off on Nov. 14 in Wayzata.
Though braving the cold has been part of the Sleep Out since its start in 1996, IOCP is trying to provide more ways to get involved by meeting with people in their homes and giving groups a way to make donation Web pages.
The goal this year is $2 million, money IOCP uses for housing assistance. Last year it served 570 families but turned away 250.
"What we're talking about is how many families we will have to turn away in the coming year, and that will be dependent on what we raise," said Development Director Jill Kohler.
Meanwhile, the organization that focuses more on its food shelf and serves Hopkins and the South Lake area, Intercongregation Communities Association (ICA), is working on the It's Time to Give campaign. ICA hopes to raise $200,000, all the while struggling to keep up with the need for food.
"We can't keep up with the demand right now," said ICA Executive Director Cathy Maes. "We can't serve fast enough. And we are going to be opening up a satellite food shelf in Hopkins. Right now we've maxed out around 515, 520 households each month and we're hoping to meet the 650 number by the end of the year."
Still, both ICA and IOCP have been turning people away.
At the kickoff IOCP aims to draw a crowd of 1,000 to represent the number of families projected to ask for assistance next year.
Hennepin County Program Analyst Matthew Ayres said one episode of homelessness is estimated to cost roughly $7,000 for a family in the county, which includes shelter and the initial costs of getting the family back into housing.
"Shelter is extremely expensive," Ayres said.
Kohler said that for IOCP the average cost of providing emergency housing assistance is $675.
"From a plain economic standpoint, it just makes so much sense to keep people in their housing," Kohler said.
In a change, IOCP has asked area residents to host gatherings at their homes that let IOCP Executive Director LaDonna Hoy and Sleep Out founder Bob Fisher speak and answer questions.
Also new: Groups can make their own Web pages to keep track of progress, after a software company let IOCP be a beta tester.
"The kids are really excited about that too," Kohler said. "We've got an awful lot of youth who sleep out and they love this."
The Sleep Out has in a large way become about groups getting together for the cause, from companies large and small to scout troops and church groups.
Youth from St. Philip church planned to sleep out, then show up at worship services in the morning without changing clothes.
"They kind of stand in front of the church and they really set an example of our youth who are putting themselves out there as representatives of the homeless," Patterson said.
A long road ahead for ICA
ICA's drive consists of a litany of fund-raising events from October through Dec. 31, with the biggest being a Nov. 30 lunch and dinner at Maynard's in Excelsior.
There has been a steady increase in need over the last year, Maes said.
More and more stories of job loss and drastic life changes are being heard in the ICA offices and providing food lifts off one of several budget burdens.
"The face of hunger has really changed in the past year. It's you and me. It could be anyone's neighbor in the communities we serve between Hopkins and Shorewood," Maes said. "It's tough when you know someone who comes in. That's a difficult conversation to have."
So far ICA has only raised $25,000.
"We have to meet this $200,000 goal," Maes said.
But all isn't lost. Last year, ICA exceeded the $200,000 goal by $15,000. And ICA is seeing a new trend in giving.
"More people have been giving smaller amounts so we meet our goal and that's really the community coming together and giving what they can, which is pretty great," Maes said.
