GREENSBORO, N.C. — Students at Greensboro Day School are getting hands-on to address homelessness, a crisis facing many in the Triad.
According to the Interactive Resource Center, every night in Greensboro more than 900 people go to sleep homeless.
That means they are sleeping in shelters, under bridges, or in cars.
Greensboro Day visual arts teacher, Elisabeth Ramsey took it upon herself to get involved to make sure one less family goes to sleep without a roof over their head.
“I spoke with the head of school about trying to build a tiny house to donate for the homeless,” Ramsey said.
Oftentimes, the biggest lessons are learned outside the classroom.
For a group of Greensboro Day high school sophomores who took part in the school's clear lab, there’s a big meaning behind the tiny house they’re building.
Bryn Booker is a sophomore in the program and said to know what they’re building isn’t just for show makes the hammering and sawing worth it.
“As students, it’s hard sometimes for you to feel like you’ve impacted an area or someone else. Doing this has been cool to see and feel what it’s like to build something for someone else,” Booker said. "And you get the joy of helping someone else.”
Sophomore Carline Owens said building the home is therapeutic for her.
“After having geometry and chemistry you get to come out here and you get to hammer some nails in and use a saw,” Owens said. “It's a cool way to end the day after a bunch of academic stuff to come out here and build.”
Ramsey said gaining life skills and getting out of the classroom to connect with art in a practical way is part of why she wanted to bring this project to the private school.
“I hope they have an increased sense of self-sufficiency,” Ramsey said. “And awareness to look outside of ourselves to see how we can help other people.”
The school partnered with Tiny House Community Development.
They are a Greensboro non-profit that provides homes for veterans and those living in poverty.
Students will work on the home until the end of the school year and pass it on to tiny house community development to finish.
The organization has two tiny house communities already built that veterans and those living in poverty today can call home.
They're working on a third site on Freeman Mill Road here in the Gate City.
The home will go on their six-acre plot of land and become a home for a family in need.