T-R PHOTO BY TAMMY R. LAWSON “So many people end up living in their vehicles with no place to go,” said David Hicks, director of Marshall County’s Youth and Shelter Services. “The Sleep Out is a way of bringing awareness to those who are doing that in our community.”

Just because you don’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Surviving beyond shadows, the tired, cold and hungry have nowhere to call their own. It is for that reason the Youth and Shelter Services of Marshall County will hold its Fourth Annual Homeless Awareness Sleep Out Saturday on the grounds of the Iowa Veterans Home. As November is National Homeless Awareness Month, the occasion was ultimately created for bringing light to an issue that is not only one of national proportion, but of locality as well. “We do a count twice a year throughout the area and it shows up to 50 people homeless on that given day,” says Director David Hicks. “But that’s a drop in the bucket because there are many who are sleeping in vehicles and couch-hopping, which is very common. There could be hundreds.” Participants are urged to bring tents, tarps and cardboard boxes for the event, but Hicks reminds that the over-night stay is not a replication of what it is like to be without a hom.