UNCW students go homeless for the homeless

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) —  A fraternity at UNCW is thinking outside the box by living in a box this week.
A cardboard box. Alpha Tau Omega, commonly known as ATO, is set up in front of the busy Randall library to raise awareness of homelessness. WWAY’s Daniel Seamans stopped by their camp to find out more about their mission and what the community can do to help them out.

“Evan’s whole house collapsed last night so he just duct taped this,” a student said of the challenges.

Forget about dorm rooms or fraternity houses. This week Ches Woodall and his brothers of Alpha Tao Omega are living a different life.

“You wake up at like three in the morning,” Woodall said, “and the wind hits you in the face and you’re cold and have goosebumps everywhere and it’s like, wow, I can’t believe people go through this.”

They are living a homeless life. “For me it helps me realize why we are doing this,” Woodall continued.

This week the ATO brothers are camped out in cardboard boxes in front of the Randall library on the campus of UNCW to raise awareness of homelessness.

They are also collecting food, clothing, and money to donate to the Good Sheppard Center in Wilmington.

“When people start noticing us they can start asking questions and we can educate them on the homeless population,” said ATO brother Billy Do. “We take it step by step and hopefully help our community.”

By week’s end, they’ll be back in their own beds.  But right now, a different reality.

“The wind, there’s a lot of wind. That’s what took off some of the roofs,” another ATO brother said as he rebuilt a cardboard house damaged the night before.

It’s a cardboard village hoping to help educate a village and learning a lesson themselves as they go.

“It’s all about the amount of duct tape,” another student joked, “you can never have enough duct tape. Duct tape is a beautiful thing. Absolutely.”

The ATO brothers will be in front of the Randall library until Thursday at noon.