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Getting in tents to help homeless Friday Oct 27, 2017 at 5:24 PM By Julie Akins for the Mail Tribune “Every donation we get, we turn back around to help others,” says John Wieczorek of Options for Housing Residents of Ashland about their upcoming Pasta with a Purpose dinner and overnight Sleep Out to benefit programs for the homeless and those in danger of becoming homeless. The dinner Friday, Nov. 3, begins at 5 p.m. and goes until 7 at United Methodist Church, 175 E. Main St. It is a first-time offering. The fundraiser ($15 per plate in advance, $20 at the door) features an all-you-can-eat pasta buffet and folk music by the duo Hollis Peach as part of what the organization is billing as a "weekend of hope." They’re hoping adding the dinner will allow those who can’t do the Sleep Out Saturday night an opportunity to engage in the weekend. “We want the whole community to be involved,” Wieczorek said Monday at a meeting of Southern Oregon Housing for All. The Sleep Out began four years ago as a fundraiser for Ashland Community Resource Center, which offers support for families grappling with high rents and low vacancy rates, job training services and help for the homeless. OHRA typically raises $20,000 to $25,000 from the Sleep Out by collecting contributions from community members who sponsor those taking part in the camp out. By adding the dinner they hope to raise more money and have the chance to reach more people who by choice or due to health reasons can’t be part of the Sleep Out. “We choose October because it’s a little cold and uncomfortable so people have a taste of what it’s like for people who have to sleep outside all the time,” says Wieczorek. The Sleep Out, Saturday, Nov. 4, will be held at the Lincoln Elementary Athletic Field on Beach Street in Ashland. Wieczorek says of the Sleep Out, “You sleep out one night so other people don’t have to sleep out every night.” Tent set-up begins at 3 p.m. and hot food and beverages will be served for participants both in the evening and the following morning. “You get to sleep in a tent and have hot food, which is more than homeless people get in our community,” OHRA board member Sharon Harris says of the event. Advocates for the homeless and those struggling with rent agreed the fundraiser helps on multiple levels: awareness, empathy and financial support. “We all have to show up for each other around this issue. The time is now,” says Ana Witt, who is in the process of working to create a permanent homeless shelter in Ashland along with advocates and organizers of the Community Peace Meal, Jason Houk and Vanessa Martynse Houk. For more information or to reserve space at either the Pasta with a Purpose dinner or the Sleep Out, see www.HomelessOptions.org, or call 541-631-2235. — Email Ashland freelance writer Julie Akins at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/@julieakins.