A card game helped put things in perspective for Finan Murphy.

As he sat in a church in Concord, where residents at Family Promise’s emergency shelter stayed the night, and played a game against one of the teenagers living there at the time, he couldn’t help but notice the similarities between the two boys. 

They were the same age and both high school students. While Murphy spent one night sleeping on a cot in the shelter, volunteering with his mom, the other boy had been shuffled between churches – with stops at a day shelter to get ready for school each morning. He and his family were experiencing homelessness and staying at the shelter for the time being. 

“If you’re moving from church to church and you’re homeless and you’re a kid and you’re trying to go to school in one place, that’s a really big struggle,” said Murphy. 

Murphy is now helping to organize Family Promise’s New Hampshire Night Without a Bed Campaign, which aims to raise awareness about homelessness in the state and fundraise for Family Promise. 

He grew up between Concord and Hopkinton, accompanying his parents as they volunteered with Family Promise – whether that be grocery shopping for meals or spending the night at church shelters. 

This past summer, he worked with Stephen Croke, the executive director of Family Promise of Greater Concord, and they began to plan the Night Without a Bed event. 

For one night, Sept. 28, participants are encouraged to sleep in a tent, car or on a couch and share pictures of themselves online with the hashtag, #NightWithoutABed. 

Family Promise is a national organization with local branches that provides shelter and case management services for people who are experiencing homelessness. In Concord, the shelter is one of two that focuses on serving families with children.

The shelter model is rotational, with over a dozen interfaith congregations providing overnight shelter and meals for a week at a time. 

Murphy admits prior to working with Family Promise, he had a different understanding of homelessness. 

“I didn’t know how severe it was of a problem. I notice it more often now," he said. “It's definitely been eye-opening to see how large of a scale this has really spread to.”

With the campaign, he also hopes to challenge conceptions of what homelessness looks like. 

“A lot of the times there are homeless people that are working multiple jobs and still can’t afford a home or even a car,” he said. “It’s just a stereotype that I’d like to change.” 

And he’s also turned to local faith communities for support and participation. He’s spoken to his church, St. Andrews Episcopal in Hopkinton, about the night, while friends have also turned to their place of worship. 

Now a handful of groups are promoting the event as well – the First Congregational Church in Hopkinton, St. Theresa and St. Mary Parishes in Henniker and Hilsboro and Temple Beth Jacob in Concord. 

“It’s bringing the community together because it’s something that we can all try to work against,” he said. “All of these faiths care about this issue.” 

He plans to sleep out with friends for the night to participate. And in talking to his friends about the event, he’s been able to educate them more about homelessness in the area and organizations like Family Promise that aim to provide some reprieve and assistance.

The halls of Hopkinton Middle High School are also decorated with large purple signs that encourage students to participate. He hopes the posters will spark interest in the night, but that the event will continue a larger conversation about homelessness, especially for students who are unhoused. 

He thinks back to the student living at Family Promise and just the difference in circumstances – having a quiet space to do homework, and transportation to school from the various churches – that come with both of their experience as high school students.

During the 2022 to 2023 school year, over 3,500 students in the state were reported by their local school district as experiencing homelessness, according to data from the New Hampshire Department of Education. 

“Homeless youth is something that a lot of people see as invisible,” he said. “The youth maybe have it the worst because they’re born into that and they have nothing.”