'Sleep Out' Encourages Young Professionals To See What It's Like To Live On The Streets

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Hundreds of young professionals will swap their warm beds for unfamiliar territory this Friday.

They'll experience what it's like to sleep on the cold streets of New York City during the annual Covenant House Sleep Out.

"It's an act of solidarity where folks will sleep outside for an evening so that homeless young people don't have to," Development Manager Daniel Ryan told CBS2's Cindy Hsu.

Covenant House is an organization that helps kids facing homelessness and human trafficking get off the streets.

"The most important piece is that we want to build community, we want folks to engage with our staff and our incredible young people. We want them to learn what a day in the life at Covenant House looks like," said Ryan. "We want folks to be there most informed advocates for our work. And we want folks to emerge from this experience gratitude-filled."

For more information, watch the full interview above or click here.