N.B. teens raise awareness, funds for Fredericton’s new drop-in centre for the homeless

N.B. teens overnight on the streets Two Fredericton teens spent 24 hours on the streets to raise money and awareness for the city's Phoenix Learning Centre.

HALIFAX — Two teenagers in Fredericton went to extreme lengths for a recent class project and raised money for a great cause at the same time.

Dominique Drost (16) and Anna Lingley (17) are both students at Leo Hayes High School in Fredericton, N.B.

The pair teamed up for a class project they called ’24 Hours For the Homeless.’ The teens spent 24 hours out in the cold to raise awareness and funds for the city’s new drop-in centre called the Phoenix Learning Centre.

“The whole rational around it was that we really wanted to raise awareness and change the dialogue within our community about what homelessness really is and what it looks like,” said Dominique.

“And we wanted to make sure that we replicated the hardships and the conditions they had as best we could,” said Anna.

The teens documented parts of their experience by video, later posting it to YouTube to share with others.

In the video, it shows the teenagers walking around downtown Fredericton, and later, setting up a tent to stay in for the night.

“It’s so cold and we have some hot chocolate but we’ve literally just been laying out here and I cannot figure out how someone would do this every single night,” said Dominique, in the video.

The teenagers say although they did their best to simulate the life of a homeless person they did also keep safety in mind.

The girls’ parents stayed within a safe distance while they were downtown, and they set their tent up in front of Dominique’s family home.

Throughout the project, the teenagers worked closely with Scott Earle, the coordinator at Phoenix Learning Centre.

In total, Dominque and Anna raised $2,290 for the Phoenix Learning Centre, all while receiving a clear reminder how lucky they are to have access to the simple things.

The Phoenix Learning Centre plans to stay opened until the end of March thanks to community funding, like the donation from Dominique and Anna.