Under the Stars Sleepout 2023 Asks the Public to Sleep Out for One Night
Hundreds of residents from across our communities are giving up their warm beds on May 20th for Ritter Center’s Under the Stars Sleepout to End Homelessness. Ritter Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center in San Rafael, provides thousands of local families and individuals living in poverty or experiencing homelessness with healthcare, housing, food, safety net, and holiday programs. The 3rd annual Sleepout raises awareness of the complex issues behind homelessness and builds compassion for people living on the streets or struggling to choose between paying rent and putting food on the table. The Sleepout raises $175,000 for Ritter’s vital programs that prevent and resolve homelessness in Marin communities.
“Housing is a human right. Homelessness is solvable. Everybody deserves a place to call home,” said Mark Shotwell, CEO of Ritter Center. “Choosing to sleep in an area other than your bed for one night will not remotely recreate what it is like to sleep on the streets. But it allows for a pause in our busy lives to ask this question: who of us would want to be seen at our very worst moment and have our potential defined by it?”
The Sleepout is a team-based event, in which participants register and form teams online, pledge to “sleep out” on May 20th, ask their friends and family to sponsor their sleepout with a donation to their team, and then sleep in their chosen area – often in a backyard or car, on the floor of their home, or in any safe, uncomfortable place. Registration is $25 per person and children 5 and under are free. All paid participants get a free T-shirt and will be eligible for awards at the pre-Sleepout celebration.
Ritter Center will host the pre-Sleepout BBQ celebration at the San Rafael Elks Club Lodge, from 5:00-7:30 p.m., on May 20. Guests will enjoy BBQ by Big Jim Modesitt (as seen on TLC’s BBQ Pitmasters), games, silent auction, a live fund-a-need, and awards on the Maple Lawn Terrace. Invisible People Founder and CEO Mark Horvath will talk about his experiences working with those experiencing homelessness. Horvath developed Invisible People to give a face and voice to homelessness, something he knows much about with his own lived experience. He regularly works on cause campaigns with brands like Hanes, Ford, and Virgin Mobile. The Nonprofit Times included Mark in their 2018 Power & Influence Top 50 nonprofit executives.
After the celebration, those taking part in the Sleepout will return home to prepare for an uncomfortable night of sleeping out. Honorary tickets with extra perks like VIP Parking, preferred seating, and goody bags are available now. Honorary tickets include special pre-event access to "Mingle with the Marks," where Mark Horvath and Mark Shotwell will speak with attendees from 5:00-5:30 p.m. Benefactor tickets are $175 per person and honorary host tickets are $275 per person.
Major sponsors include: Medicus IT, Mechanics Bank, Nugget Markets, Pasha Group, Ghilotti Brothers San Rafael, First Federal Savings & Loan of San Rafael, Marin Sanitary Service, Metta Yoga, MCC Building Maintenance, San Francisco Chronicle and SFGate, and Unicorn Group.
Ritter Center's mission is to prevent and resolve homelessness and improve the health, dignity and well-being of people living in poverty in Marin County by providing high-quality, culturally sensitive, easily accessible medical care and social services. People in need can visit Ritter Center and receive high-quality medical and behavioral health care regardless of their ability to pay. Its highly trained team combines national clinical best practices with a whole-person care approach to solving each person’s health, food, and housing needs. With over 40 years of experience, Ritter Center has built industry-leading knowledge and collaborative partnerships with County agencies, health partners, and like-minded organizations to help people overcome barriers to aid and create complete support solutions that sustainably improve people’s lives.
