A little card board and tape, it's all some people have. Their source of heat, blankets. Their source of food, whatever they can find. And during a season where survival can be difficult, often times the only glimpse of hope for the homeless comes from the people who are willing to open their hearts, and Saturday it was people in Charlotte who may make the difference this year after experiencing what being homeless is all about.

"It's one week out of the 52 where we can hope to reach out to the public and educate a little bit about the homeless problem in our community," Nancy Oliver, of SIREN/Eaton Shelter Inc, says.

And Oliver doesn't use the word "problem" lightly. A count conducted in July showed that at least 150 Eaton County residents have no place to call home, but those people aren't your stereotypical homeless.

"More than half the homeless population is families and more than a third of it is young children," Oliver says.

Young children and families can't even call shelters the answer because they simply don't have room.

"We're turning away people than we've never turned away. The turn aways have almost quadrupled," Oliver says.

The reason...

"There's more and more foreclosures and these people have no place to go, they are faced with the streets and cardboard boxes," Volunteer Corbin Angus.

Boxes that served as lesson these folks say they won't forget.

"It's made quite an impact on me today," Angus says.