CAPITOL -- This is national hunger and homelessness awareness week.

An event today in the Capitol Rotunda spotlighted awareness posters created by Missouri School Children.

Pat Dougherty, a former state senator who now works for Catholic Charities of St. Louis, asked the audience to urge lawmakers to restore money to the Missouri Housing Fund.

"People can get money to address homeless issues, or foreclosures, or evictions.  It has lost three million dollars in the last three years,” Dougherty said.

Current estimates put the number of homeless people in Missouri at 27,000.