Two state lawmakers slept among the homeless recently to learn more about living on the streets and what it might take to get people off the streets.

State Sen. Harold Pope Jr. (D-Bernalillo County) and Rep. Eleanor Chavez (D-Las Cruces) accepted an invitation from “Pick Up New Mexico” to spend a night on the street with the homeless.

“For us, it’s really understanding what’s going on, listening to their stories, how they got here, what type of support (and) help they need to overcome this situation,” Pope told KOB4 News. “For many of these folks out here, they’ve all got a story on how they’ve gotten here, and we can’t just have a cookie-cutter approach to how we deal with and help folks.”

Chavez said the experience was eye-opening. “How do they stay warm? How do they get water? How do they stay clean?" she said, according to KOB4 News. “Things as simple as using the restroom and being able to wash your hands.”

Advocates for the homeless hope lawmakers have a better understanding of the issues.

“I’m hoping that this night is one of many, to where we can just decrease the homeless population -- and not just for a few people, but hundreds of people, and that we find long-term solutions,” Shane Rabindranath, executive director of the Steelbridge Ministries told KOB4 News.

Ralph Martinez, a cofounder of the Española Pathways Shelter, is a proponent of the program as well.

“That’s what we hope to do is to help encourage those who have the capacity to put that foundation of support in place,” he told KOB 4 News.

The homeless issue is turning out to be a hot-button topic during the current legislative session.

“Just having the conversation of what we saw, the conversations of actually going up to folks that were staying in tents. I think that goes a long way, compared to just folks coming to present or testify in a committee,” Pope said, according to KOB4 News. “We were actually here."