LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — A Luzerne County teen is raising awareness to shed light on homelessness by spending 24 hours outside.
When we turned 16, most of us wanted a car for our birthday. But not Juliet Price; she's asking for donations to help those in need.
Fifteen-year-old Juliet will be spending 24 hours outside in her backyard in Luzerne County starting today, Friday, October 21, to get an idea of what it's like to be homeless. She will have no electricity, no running water, and no cell phone.
It's part of a bigger initiative called Sleepout to Help Homeless 2022.
"We got hand warmers, and we're going to have layers of clothing, so we're going to have hoodies and sweatpants and stuff like that, just kind of layering up, and then we're going to have a little fire pit so that we can cook our food and stay warm against it," said Juliet.
On any given day, over 13,000 Pennsylvanians are known to be homeless.
Juliet's mom, Becky Price, is proud of her daughter for trying to raise awareness on an issue that plagues many people.
"It's important for young people to see what other people do go through to just survive," said Becky. "A lot of people don't realize all the struggles they have to go through with finding and cooking food, staying warm, making sure that you're in a safe enough place that you can actually sleep."
Juliet is about to celebrate her Sweet 16, but she's not asking for gifts this year. She's asking for help. She's hoping to raise $3,000. All of the proceeds will go to Keystone Mission. The nonprofit helps men and women develop life skills needed to change their lives and get themselves off the streets.
Juliet hopes to raise $3,000; she's got a fundraiser set up on Facebook where people can donate.
"One dollar per hour because then it's like as we go on. It'll add up, and then it'll be a lot because the more we get, the better it'll be, and then they can help so many people," explained Julie. "I like doing stuff like for the community because I feel like it just makes the world a little bit of a better place, and Keystone's mission is doing a great thing. They're like really helping the homeless and like promoting something that really needs to be seen."
Juliet has done service projects for her birthday every year for at least 10 years.
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