OGDEN, Utah — Dozens of people braved frigid temperatures Saturday night in Ogden to raise awareness about youth homelessness as part of Youth Future’s annual Utah “SleepOut.”
Matthew Watson and his son James Wright drove from south Salt Lake to participate.
"I grew up in foster care, so there's a personal connection," Watson said. "I had a lot of friends that were homeless growing up."
It's because of his time in foster care that, as an adult, Watson said he wants to give back.
"It's about supporting people that are one choice, one decision, one moment away from life-changing things,” Watson said.
That's the same reason why dozens of people participated to experience just a sliver of what children across the state have to deal with every night and raise funds to help them.
"You come out and in a couple of hours, we're going to still be out here and it's going to get very cold and you start to feel that chill in your bones, and it starts to really bring it home that there's kids, there's people out there right now,” Kristen Mitchell, executive director of Youth Futures, said.
The organization estimates roughly 7,000 people under the age of 18 experience at least one night of homelessness just in the state of Utah.
"Our number one goal is prevention," Mitchell said. "We want to prevent homelessness. About 82% of the kids that come through here don't end up in the adult homeless system."
It's to help support that prevention that everyone is here and why Watson brought his son to be a part of this event.
"Any little thing I can do to help those in need, it's always worth the time, it's always worth the money," Wright said. "Whatever's necessary."
You can donate to Youth Futures at this link.