Students learn about homelessness while serving at church in Schaumburg

Confirmation students from Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Schuamburg embarked on a journey to understand poverty in their neighborhood and the greater Chicago area last month.

The students helped on Jan. 14 as the church served as an overnight shelter for PADS, an organization that advocates for the homeless.

The students served meals and helped to clean, but they did more, according to Riane McConnell, Youth Minister at Prince of Peace.

"They began understanding a greater system that shorts family incomes and forces people into poverty," said McConnell.

Students immersed themselves in a hunger simulation, watched a documentary, and engaged in a question and answer time with a Night Ministry coordinator to really take learning to a whole new level.

"It was more than community service, it was changing the way we think about homelessness and interact with people who may seem different than us," McConnell said.

"I made a goal to try and learn people's stories. Take a homeless person out for lunch and find their truth. Change society's stereotypes and be a person who helps people who are homeless or going through poverty," said student participant Kaitlyn Jedrzejowski.

For the event, the church partnered with the Northern Illinois Food Bank, The Night Ministry: The Crib, and PADS.

For more information about Prince of Peace, please visit www.princeofpeace.net