The brisk November air whipped against flushed faces as everyone huddled together by the fire. Cardboard boxes surrounded Northtown’s courtyard, but the wind blew away the boxes these kids temporally called ‘home.’
One Homeless Night is a day for NKC students to eat soup and realize just what it means to not have a place you can call home. Every year, more than 2 million teenagers face a period of homelessness, and over 40% are under the age of 18. These Northtown students may only have to experience it for four hours, but the truly homeless kids face the difficulties of it every day.
     “Out of this year, I’ve seen at least seventy-five to eighty percent of our kids,” said  Synergy staff member Anthony Tyler, who was gracious enough to guest speak for One Homeless Night. Being a homeless teen is far from easy. Teenagers today seem to take for granted what they have and don’t realize how blessed they are to have a family and a home.
     “Its a lot different now because we’re with a lot of people, but when you’re homeless you’re all alone; that’s probably the hardest part,” said sophomore Abby Mason. Everyone listened intently Tyler as he told them all about Synergy and what they do to best help the homeless teens.
     “Fifty percent of these kids won’t make it to see their 20th birthday,” said Tyler. Sad faces were clearly displayed at this fact. Tyler asked who knows or had known someone who was homeless and over half the group raised their hand. The sudden realization of just how serious this matter was, seemed to make a really big impact of everyone who attended.
     “You feel like no one loves you,” said junior Treasure Nye when asked what she thought was the hardest part of being homeless was.
     “When it’s winter and it’s freezing cold outside and you have no where to go,” said sohpomore  Hannah Leach.
     After everyone had finished their soup, and the guest speaker finished his speech, everyone once again, huddled around the fire and let it all soak in.