Kennesaw State University will host/present a day-long conference and 42-hour sleep-out, marking the University’s fifth annual Homelessness Awareness Week Oct. 8 to 13.

What/When:

• Monday, Oct. 8, 9:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.: Homelessness Awareness Week kicks off at Kennesaw State with a conference at the Carmichael Student Center. Speakers will discuss homelessness on the local and national levels.
• Thursday, Oct. 11, 6 p.m. to Saturday, Oct. 13, 12 p.m.: Sleep-out at Kennesaw State. Students will play the roles of homeless individuals who must find food and shelter as they attempt to go to school and maintain other commitments. During the sleep-out, faculty, staff and students will also play the roles of police, court personnel and social service workers.

Who:

• Monday’s conference will feature Roy Juarez Jr., a former homeless teenager and high school dropout who became a college graduate and the founder of a human development company. He is currently on the “My Bag, My Home: Homeless by Choice Tour”; Marietta Police Department Lt. Steve Kish, who will discuss how police identify the needs of the chronically homeless; and urban poet Rahsaan Omar Thomas, who recovered from homelessness and often performs at popular metro Atlanta venues, including the Apache Café and Java Monkey.

Where:

• The sleep-out will be in the area between the Social Sciences Building, the Public Safety Department and Pilcher Hall on the Kennesaw State campus at 1000 Chastain Road, Kennesaw, GA. 30144.

For more information, go to https://web.kennesaw.edu/csl/haw.

Kennesaw State University is the third-largest university in Georgia, offering 80 graduate and undergraduate degrees, including doctorates in education, business and nursing, and a new Ph.D. in international conflict management. A member of the 35-unit University System of Georgia, Kennesaw State is a comprehensive, residential institution with a growing population of 24,100 students from more than 130 countries.