Holly Jackson believes in the power of small things, like the impact kind words can have on a stranger or the way a $2 bottle of shampoo can afford something as invaluable as human dignity.
Over the past year, the Cleveland resident watched 26,000 people benefit from small things. Each small thing was attached to a Wall of Love.
To a passerby, these walls might seem like an obscure art project: Zip-tied to fences across Ohio are Ziploc bags full of everything from hats and hand warmers to school supplies and sunscreen. But near each wall is a sign that reads, “Please take what you need. Leave the rest for others. Pay it forward when you can.”
They’re put together by the nonprofit Walls of Love, which provides basic necessities to people experiencing homelessness. The walls are assembled by Jackson and volunteers who gather materials, bag them and find a safe, willing location to post the items
A key to the walls’ success is the role of anonymity. Jackson, who experienced homelessness 28 years ago when she left an abusive relationship, is familiar with the stigmas of asking for help. When she left her home pregnant with nothing, she learned quickly that because she had a job, she didn’t qualify for financial assistance. Jackson recalled how hard it was to ask for help and how it was even harder to not receive it.
With the Walls of Love, there are no criteria or requirements to getting what you need.
Beyond supplying basic necessities, the walls also serve as a reminder that “you’re not just some random person. Somebody out there loves you,” Jackson told NationSwell.
While Jackson was sleeping on the streets and in shelters, she felt like she was just a number.
“Whether you’re a number for food stamps or a number for medical or a number for waiting in line for the soup kitchen or a number to get into a bed at night, you’re just a number,” she said. “And I wanted people to not feel that way.”
The idea for Walls of Love came when Jackson saw a family last October with no hats, no gloves, no coats, no socks and wearing flip flops. Jackson decided to do something to help people in similar situations.
“I had wished there was just a magic wall where people could get anything that they needed and there was no stigma, no judgment,” Jackson recalled.
Then she realized she can build that wall. She started fundraising, collecting materials and volunteers. The first wall was built outside the police department in Lorain, Ohio.
One wall became two, which became a dozen. Nearly a year later, and Walls of Love has built over 195 walls and helped 26,000 people. On Nov. 9, to celebrate one year, Jackson and a team of volunteers will build 25 walls all in the same day.
Jackson, who has a full-time job outside of Walls of Love, plans to take the momentum into this upcoming year. Her target goal is 500 walls across the country and constructing 216 in a single day (216 is Cleveland’s area code).
Right now, a majority of the walls function as “pop-up walls,” meaning that once all the items are gone that wall is done. But Jackson’s goal is to work with groups to create sustainable walls that are continuously restocked as the seasons change.
But either way, she said, “anybody that we can help, even if it’s just one time, is better than not helping anyone at all.”
Walls of Love is currently in need of both volunteers and donations. If you’re interested in starting a wall in your community, email [email protected].
More: This Church Found a Brilliant Way to Help Homeless People, and It All Starts With a Mailbox
Tag: help for homeless
The Controversial Way That an L.A. Suburb Is Helping the Homeless
Some of us might feel uneasy about handing money to a homeless person, but one Los Angeles suburb is trying out a new, slightly contentious approach.
The city of Pasadena will install 14 bright orange, smiley-faced parking meters that work just like regular parking meters with one exception: One hundred percent of the money collected in them will go to nonprofits that serve the homeless, the Los Angeles Times reports. The meters are a part of the Real Change Movement, that aims to raise awareness about homelessness as well as generate funds.
Officials say this program helps assure donors that their money will go directly to an organization fighting homelessness. “This is a clear alternative where people contributing know that all the money will go to effective services,” Pasadena’s housing director, Bill Huang, tells the newspaper.
MORE: If You Want to Hire Someone to Help the Homeless, Why Not the Formerly Homeless?
Others, however, have been skeptical, claiming that the meters are just a way to expel panhandlers. Local activist Paul Boden says, “If we would get serious about addressing the actual economic and social issues that we find so offputting, we wouldn’t need meters.”
As local homeless woman Holly Johnson says to the LA Times, “It’s a nice idea, but we don’t get that money,” adding that homeless organizations don’t necessarily fulfill the needs that are specific to her, such as a hotel room or medical attention.
MORE: Ever Wondered What To Say To A Homeless Person? Here Are 5 Things to Say And 5 Things Not to Say
According to the Times report, the meter campaign cost $350,000, which was paid for by various grants and corporate sponsorships. No city money was used.
Other cities that have meter programs have varied success — Denver raised about $30,000 a year, but Orlando’s meters raised only $2,000 in three years. So far, the two meters in Pasadena have reportedly raised about $270 in three weeks.
Only time will tell if these parking meters can make real change.
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The Small Colorado Coffee Shop With a Large Purpose
Non-profits and other charitable organizations aren’t the only workplaces that do good. When Seth and Kelly Kelley, co-founders of RedTail Coffee in Fort Collins, Colo. opened shop in May, they decided that their business could make a positive difference in the world.
The coffee shop is staffed by two trained baristas and one employee who is currently homeless, Think Progress reports. According to RedTail’s website, the company has partnered with Fort Collins Housing Authority, Hand Up, and the City of Fort Collins to provide job training, educational opportunities, and careers to the local homeless community.
In fact, RedTail Coffee’s new employees will be exclusively hired from their immediate vicinity, Red Tail Ponds, a new residential project being built for local homeless and low-income individuals.
A February study found that in just Fort Collins, the homeless population has grown to nearly 300 people, about 50 more from just last year.
MORE: When San Jose’s Homeless Work to Clean Up Their Community, They Receive Food, Housing, and Even Jobs
The Coloradan reports that the Kelleys got the idea for their shop after attending a “heated” neighborhood meeting earlier this year, where some people expressed their fears and negative stereotypes over the new housing project. Kelly hopes that her coffee shop will “break that barrier.”
Seth told Think Progress, “It challenges the idea that people who are homeless are lazy or just aren’t working hard enough.” In fact, RedTail’s current homeless employee (unnamed in the article) has to wait in line every morning to shower at the shelter just to get ready in time for his job.
“It takes a tremendous amount of work, way more than the average person, just to get out of homelessness,” Seth said.
But it’s clear that taking a chance on someone who society might not be considered “hireable” is paying off. Reports say that in the few months the shop has been opened, the company has already turned a profit.
“It’s been a big learning curve for us all,” admits Seth, “but we’ve grown through the process.”
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Watch: A Graduation Day Surprise and Four Other Videos That Inspired Us in May
Ruby Robinson faced a bittersweet reality as she prepared to receive her degree from Columbia University’s engineering school last week. Ruby’s father, U.S. Army Capt. Keith Robinson, had been stationed in northern Afghanistan for the last six months, and she understood that he would not be able to make it to her commencement ceremony. At least she thought he would not make it. More than 14 hours and multiple flights later, Capt. Robinson arrived in time to hug his daughter after she shook hands with University President Lee Bollinger. Watch this touching moment and four other videos that inspired us this month.
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