When word spread that students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School would be organizing a march in the wake of their school’s mass shooting, Washington, D.C. got prepared. Within the first few weeks, hundreds of people were expected to attend what the students were calling “March For Our Lives.” With so many people coming, you can assume not everyone would be from the D.C. area. So where would all the traveling march attendees reside and call home for the weekend?
The Washington, D.C. area is enormous, but it would still be a little difficult to house hundreds and thousands of travelers in one weekend alone. Even if some were okay with going the expensive route by booking a hotel or nice Airbnb, those options and others alike would still not get everyone coming for the march a place to stay.
A group of D.C. moms saw the need for residency, especially for the high school students who aren’t old enough to book even the cheapest place only their weekly allowance would allow, if they wanted to. One of those mothers willing to help was Sherry Cohen.
“This was the least we could do, was open our home to kids that were raising their own money to try and come to D.C. and make a difference,” Cohen said.
Cohen is a mother of two teenagers: an 18-year-old senior and a 15-year-old freshman. She couldn’t even put into words the feeling it evoked as a mother to see what those kids from MSD H.S. went through and knowing it could’ve happened to any school or family. When she found out about “For Lodging,” the network put together by Mothers in Northwest D.C. housing students coming into town, she was more than willing to lend a helping hand…or in this case, house.
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Eleven D.C. Moms created the “March For Our Lives Lodging” website which connected the out-of-state marchers to all the families, churches and community centers opening their doors for students to stay for free so they could participate in the historical weekend. The marchers were matched up based on best fit such as preferred parts of town, children in the host home, etc.
Seven high school students from Parkland, Florida and a few other areas were matched up with Sherry Cohen.
Anna Zamora and Maya Locke were the student organizers at Florida Atlantic University High School who put together the money, transportation and found the housing so a few of their students would be able to attend the march.
“The people who are from Douglas who are becoming spokespeople like Emma Gonzalez, I went to middle school with them so I’m really empowered by their strength to be able to talk on this cause despite them being there on the scene so soon after the tragedy,” Zamora said. “It’s inspiring, so they empowered me to feel like I can do this too and bring my own school.”
Locke said Zamora lived so close to Douglas she could hear the helicopters around her house at night. When it all happened, everything was chaotic but classes still went on, life still went on. There wasn’t much time to put things on pause, which is why they wanted to bring their school to the march.
“A lot of this was us trying to contribute in our way which was bringing people from our world to come contribute to the movement,” Locke said.
These young activists drove from Parkland, Florida to Orlando, flew to Baltimore and then took a commuter train from Baltimore to D.C. where Cohen’s daughter met them at the train station and took them through the Metro back home.
“This is a planes, trains and automobiles and then some kind of story,” Cohen said. “They did all of this to come here and protest to demand what they think they need to feel safe in their schools. If that’s not enough to show their passion, I don’t know what is.”
Cohen didn’t know the background of all the students she was housing before they came, but she did know they were young, and they might not have traveled before. So, she wanted to make sure ‘su casa es su casa’, making it a home away from home and would give as much support as they needed.
And what’s one thing that can bring people together to make them feel like they’re at home more than food.
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The night before the march, they had Maggianos for dinner, played card games and made protest signs. Cohen said it was a night planned to get to know one another before the Florida students left that Monday after the march.
But their bellies weren’t the only things full that night. In addition to the seven Florida students, Cohen’s daughter invited six of her friends over to meet their guests. Cohen’s son and husband, brought the total to 17 people in one house.
The students didn’t really have an answer for a specific sleeping place. They said they will all be spread out: some in the basement, attic, living room, or wherever they end up falling asleep (you know how teenagers can adjust). But blow-up beds and blankets were ready for whenever it was that time to for them to get some shut eye.
For Lodging was preparing for up to 5,000 kids in the D.C. area to be housed. According to the March For Our Lives Lodging website, around 500 marchers found someone to stay with in D.C.