Effective Wednesday at 5 p.m., Mayor George Flaggs Jr.’s daughter will be homeless.

No, she isn’t having trouble with her bills, but she is working to bring public awareness to homelessness in Vicksburg.

Emmarie Flaggs-Anderson will spend 12 hours in downtown Vicksburg on a public bench in front of the parking lot next to 1311 Bar & Grill, 1311 Washington St. Her 12 hours are set to expire at 5 a.m. Thursday.

Flaggs-Anderson, an educator at Vicksburg High School, will be accompanied by her colleague Kristen Sanders Williams for the event.

“The sole purpose of this is that last year I became acquainted with the Mountain of Faith Ministries Homeless Shelter,” she said. “I’ve done quite a lot of volunteering with this shelter.”

Flaggs-Anderson said before her work with the shelter, she didn’t know the city had a place for homeless people.

“My heart has just opened up to this shelter, and I just didn’t understand how quick a person could become homeless and in need of a shelter overnight. You could be living in a home today and by tonight be homeless. It could be due to fire, it could be due to lack of paying bills or anything could happen.

The shelter is run completely from donations, Flaggs-Anderson said.

“I’ve been blessed to never be homeless, but some of the stories and testimonies women have shared with me from volunteering up there have been near to my heart,” she said. “It’s something I want to bring awareness to.”

Flaggs-Anderson said the best way to raise awareness was to walk a mile in their shoes.

“This could be you, this could be me and it could happen to anyone,” she said. “I’m all about community unity. I want to bring unity and provide for those who are in need.”

Visitors and observers are encouraged to leave donations at the site. Donations will be given to Mountain of Faith Ministries in Vicksburg.

“With my father being the mayor, if I can go out here and bring awareness and I can get out of my bed and be homeless for a night, the least that we can do as a community as a whole is come out and give donations that will help house these people and supply the needs of those in need who have to live in this shelter.”