Members of a Catholic community at UNM want students to start thinking inside the box.
About 20 students and church members slept in cardboard boxes Saturday night in the courtyard of the Aquinas Newman Center in hopes of better understanding the plight of Albuquerque's homeless.
Senior Alicia Sedillo, head of the center's Social Justice Committee, said the Project Box initiative began last year.
"I just want people to be more educated about who is homeless and the reasons why they are homeless," Sedillo said.
Guest speakers from the Albuquerque Rescue Mission and the Trinity House of Albuquerque, as well as former transients, discussed their first-hand experiences with homelessness to Project Box participants.
Junior Corey Davis said the event gave him insight into the lives of people who live on the streets.
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"You can definitely see a little bit more accurately how homeless people actually live, because when you're walking down the street, you don't really understand exactly how they live," he said.
Davis said the demonstration made it easier for him to see the everyday difficulties of homeless people.
"Out here, you're building a box, and you're actually going to sleep in it, so I think it can build a bit more sympathy and empathy about what people are actually experiencing," he said.
The stormy weather Saturday night drove the demonstration's point home, Sedillo said, as it displayed the danger and discomfort of homeless life.
"I think it makes everyone think twice and be thankful for what they have, because this is just a demonstration, and it's very difficult to do in this weather, even as a demonstration," Sedillo said. "And I can't imagine being outdoors in this weather every day of my life."
Marcus Page, a representative from Trinity House, said the demonstration safely and effectively helped students understand the real-life difficulties Albuquerque's homeless face.
"It made it easy to think about the concepts we were describing without feeling any danger," Page said. "It was really good for them to have the physical experience amplified by the stories told by homeless people."
The Trinity House provides two meals a week to the hungry, Page said. He said Trinity House employees rely on donations to provide services to those in need.
Senior Steven Garcia said the Project Box demonstration forced him to focus on the most important things in life.
"We don't need all of these fancy things that we have," he said. "All we need is a place to sleep, things to eat and the love of the people around us. I hope everybody starts to get away from their iPods and their computers and stuff and starts to think about what they need."
