A lesson in homelessness

North Haven, Conn. (WTNH) - Some kids in North Haven got a feel for what it's like to be homeless after they spent the night sleeping out in the cold to help raise awareness and help the less fortunate.

J.T. Lincoln didn't have to work too hard to imagine it. He slept in a box all of Wednesday night into Thursday morning as part of the second Abraham's Tent Youth Sleepout, a fundraiser for the program with the same name.

"Sleeping in a box is what some people have to do every night and the night is a lot longer when you're asleep in a box as opposed to a bed and you get waken up more easily," Lincoln said. "I can just imagine how scary it can be."

JT's among dozens of young people and adults who slept out in the hopes to raise awareness and more than $20,000 for the plight of homeless folks in Connecticut.

Abraham's Tent brings together religious congregations and Yale to help with the overflow at New Haven's Columbus House . The event -- part demonstration, part crusade -- was held at four locations across the state.

"There are probably 670 people homeless perhaps in New Haven and throughout the state it's probably about four-thousand, so it's a big problem," Rev. Scott Marrow from North Haven Congregational Church said. "I think we would all agree that we would want people to have shelter and warmth and not to have to worry from day to day where they're going to be able to stay."