Watch video from the Sleep-Out.

The campus Habitat for Humanity chapter attempted to educate students last night on issues homeless people face with a sleep out in Risman Plaza.

“Tonight we are trying to raise awareness for the homeless situation going on in the area and basically in whole world,” said Yana Grinblat, Habitat Secretary and sophomore architecture major. “We hope to raise awareness and probably also gain some new members.”

The event started a little after 8 p.m. when members of Habitat for Humanity began delivering boxes to the plaza, and immediately students began grabbing boxes, constructing their own cardboard homes. The idea of the event was to express how it felt to live in a cardboard box.

Students involved with the event became creative in their designs, some allowing their experiences at Kent State to effect the outcome of their creations. Sophomore architectural studies major Nathan Hooks designed his cardboard boxes into a cathedral.

“To be completely honest I’m taking arch history this semester,” Hooks said. “Since the beginning of the semester we’ve been studying cathedrals in Italy. It’s all fresh in my mind.”

Three groups of students, including Hook’s group, received awards for their creativity. Each group was given an assortment of gift cards and other donated materials.

Students participating in the event also said they had fun while becoming more aware about what the homeless went through.

“It’s a really great way to raise awareness about homelessness. It’s really fun, and we’re all together and we get to meet people from this organization,” said Hannah Bostdorff, sophomore integrated health studies major. “I think it’s really awesome how we’ve had people come up to us and ask us what we’re doing . just tell them about Habitat for Humanity.”

Overall, the event was said to be a success.

“I think we had a great turnout, and all the houses look amazing and really creative,” Grinblat said. “I think we’re going to get a lot of new members out of tonight – just people who are generally interested in habitat. I think this is definitely an attention-grabbing event.”

Contact news correspondent Christopher Clevenger at [email protected].