News and Events
[printer friendly version]posted on 11/8/12
Saint Joseph's College to Hold 22nd Annual Candlelight Vigil for Homeless Youth
Individuals from Saint Joseph's College and the Rensselaer community will gather to support and raise awareness of homeless youth at the 22nd Annual Covenant House Candlelight Vigil for Homeless Youth. SJC's vigil will take place on Thursday, November 15 at 4:30 pm CST in the Saint Joseph's Chapel. The vigil coincides with National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week (Nov. 10-18, 2012).
The statistics on homeless youth are troubling. According to Covenant House, 57% of homeless children spend at least one day every month without food, and 50% of adolescents aging out of foster care and juvenile justice systems will be homeless within six months.
At the vigil, the SJC men's and women's soccer teams will collect new and gently used T-shirts as a part of their annual "Pumas Take off Their Shirts to Stop the Hurt for the Kids of Covenant House" T-shirt drive. The boys and girls of the Saint Augustine Catholic School choir will sing at the vigil. Rensselaer Mayor Stephen A. Wood will proclaim November 15 "Covenant House Day" for the city.
"The Covenant House Candlelight Vigil for Homeless Youth comes appropriately during National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week," said SJC Campus Minister Br. Tim Hemm, C.PP.S. '70. "It is important to keep in mind those who don't have the basic necessities of food and shelter. At the vigil, we can listen, reflect, pray, sing, and become more aware of the blessings we have while thinking of ways in which we might reach out to those who don't have so much."
Founded in 1972, Covenant House has reached more than one million young people with immediate assistance (food and shelter) and the support necessary to transition from a life on the streets to a life with a future (counseling, health services, substance abuse intervention, legal services, spiritual guidance, educational and vocational opportunities, life-skills training, etc.).
For more information on the vigil, contact Br. Tim Hemm at timh@saintjoe.edu or Covenant House Vigil Director Joey Krisch '15 at jku8951@saintjoe.edu.
Saint Joseph's College, named a "character-building college" by the Templeton Foundation and a "best Midwestern college" by the Princeton Review, is a four-year, Catholic college offering 27 majors, 4 group majors, 34 minors, and 9 pre-professional programs, complemented by the nationally acclaimed Core Program. Founded and sponsored by the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, SJC is located in Rensselaer, Indiana, approximately 90 minutes from both Chicago and Indianapolis, on a park-like campus of 180 acres and has an enrollment of 1,100 students.
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