Very First Mat Made For The Homeless

Kcci tv s mark tauscheck reports.

Very first mat made for the homeless.

Some group is making plarn sleeping mats for the homeless. You can lay on this with. Every now and then i see the same news articles coming around again. So far this year the group has made 40 with a goal of 150 for the year.

Fifteen homeless people who will sleep a little more comfortably this winter. Many of the homeless have dogs as traveling companions and they need a place to sleep as well. Planning for next year i think we could double that at least she said adding she d like to build up a surplus for next year too. The mighty mat makers has found a use for their crocheting skills.

Each 120 row mat is made up of 500 to. The west allis mercy mats group made 76 mats last year that were given to the maccanon brown homeless sanctuary in milwaukee. John the apostle catholic church to create their own mats using about 700 plastic bags apiece. Meanwhile in norwalk iowa the mighty mat makers meet once a week at st.

The women have made about 15 mats that ll be delivered to the pine street inn in boston. A smaller version of the mat say 3 3 or small mat that didn t get finished would be perfect. The ground can get very hot or cold to sleep on and just having a little bit of separation between the wet ground and the body can mean a lot. Members of the homeless community have consistently expressed their gratitude for the mats recognizing the crocheters for their hard work mr.

The mat is made of plastic and is about a 1 2 inch thick. Betsy greer wrote a beautiful series of pieces not too long ago about crafting privilege and using our hands to give back and it feels like kismet that my friend jeff wrote about plarn sleeping mats to help the homeless just a few weeks later. So far they have spent at least 100 hours on the project producing 18 mats that have been handed out to the homeless and there are many more to come. Plarn is simply yarn made from plastic bags and it s been around for a long time although it keeps being re discovered by the mainstream media apparently.

They are turning plastic bags into mats for the homeless for extra padding and a moisture barrier. The mats are used to keep the homeless off of the wet cold hot hard ground. From plarn sleeping mats to homemade clothing and blankets there are so many ways that crafters can help the homeless.