New Helping Hands Aid Ohio's Homeless

Thank you Edith D for this thoughtful donation of knitted scarves.  Edith is our newest pair of helping hands.  Many thanks for joining us here Edith.  Edith has knitted several different sized scarves.  Please click to enlarge so you can see the pretty cable in the bright yellow scarf in the left corner.  What  pretty design.

We're always happy and excitedd when we get new pairs of helping hands here on Bridge and Beyond, and look forward to getting to know you better through your helpful hands with donations and visits and comments here on the blog.

Welcome Edith, hope to see you here often.

2015 Donations:
Hats: 10+8=18
Scarves:
Mittens: 10
Slippers:
Rain Poncho's:
Cotton Washcloths:
Afghans:
Socks:
Fingerless gloves/wrist warmers:
Cowls/Infinity scarves:
Misc: personal care items and anything not listed above

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Homeless are People, Like You

All homeless are lazy bums, drug dealers, criminals ...right?  Isn't that what lots of people think, the people who don't want to help them, the people who say feeding them a hot meal will only promote more laziness and dependency?  And because they're all drug dealers, criminals you should be afraid them and wipe out their homes (areas where they collect to live under bridges, vacant lots etc.).  How often I've read such things on facebook and if you've not heard these sentiments from people, read articles supporting these statements and others I'd be surprised.

Meet Anthony Mendez, who as a 9th grade teen lived with his 3 siblings and his mother in South Bronx.  His best friend was shot, and a year later his family evicted from their home end up in a shelter.  Scary and demoralizing no doubt for this kid and his family.  He had to get up at 4:30 in the morning in order to get enough buses to get to school from the shelter.  I wasn't able to post the full story here, but do encourage you all to follow the link below to read his amazing and inspiring story and how he'll be The First Ladies Guest at the State of Union.

Please remember this story, and or the story about Leo Grand I posted HERE the next time you read or hear about all homeless being lazy, and criminals.  Please enlighten those that make these statements.   When someone asks you why you knit, or crochet and donate your gifts of kindness and Christian Love remember these success stories and keep your hands busy caring for others.  YOU are apart of something that truly does matter.  Thank you all, please keep up the good work.

Story Link Click HERE

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Homeless Need Socks

Socks!  Nothing fancy, but oh so very very necessary, so needed and so appreciated.  When  you have cold wet feet, you are miserable.  Think of folks out in the elements, or those in shelters waiting on buses...warming them with clean dry socks is truly essential and can make a difference in their health as well.

Came up with some interesting facts about socks doing several google searches.  Socks are needed to absorb sweat, the foot is the heaviest producer of sweat in your bdy and can produce 0.25 pints of perspiration a day.  Wow.  Wearing socks can decreased the danger of frostbite in cold temperatures.

The earlierst example of socks comes from Egypt.  They are on display in the Victoria and Albert Museum from excavations from Oxyrhynchus.  They are split toes, so that the socks  could be worn with sandals.

At times in history animal skins were tied around the foot at the ankle, matted animal hair was also used for added warmth.  In the 5th century "puttees" were worn by Europeans, by Holy people.  The word puttees, meaning pure.  Some time later, socks were worn by the wealthy, by nobility.

In 1589 with the invention of the knitting machine socks could be made 6 times faster then hand knit socks, but hand knitted socks and machine knitted socks were equals through the 1800's.

Socks are an item anyone can donate, you don't need to be a knitter or a crocheter to donate.  Socks are collected and donated from primarily men, some women.  The need for children and teens is not as great.  Socks should be store bought vs knitted or crocheted.

Donated Socks:
2011......333
2012......281 (-52 less then previous year
2013......415 (+134 more then previous year
2014......199 (-82 less then previous year

average 307 which is 108 less pairs then we donated in 2014.

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Searching Bridge and Beyond

Have you noticed or used the search feature here on the blog?  You can insert your name for example and find all the posts where your donations have been blogged about.  The search feature works by sorting the tags I use when I write a blog post.  So, generally your name, the items you donated will appear as tags.  Likewise if you want to look at all the posts about slippers, insert the word slipper in your search.

I like to point that out from time to time, so you all can get the most of the blog.  Take  time, look around.  Maybe you want to review the blog post about Homeless Families Foundation,simply put that in the search window.

The beautiful tree has nothing to do with homeless, nothing to do with Bridge and Beyond, but isn't it beautiful.  I believe from memory, I took this picture one day while on a walk....just because it made me smile.  With snow, freezing rain and cold cold temps around the country...thought you might enjoy something from Spring.

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Nothing Ordinary about Cotton Washcloths.

These washcloths are crocheted, but remember we also collect and donate knitted ones.  I've not crocheted any, but do enjoy knitting them.  I find the cotton bothers my hands far less with knitting then with crocheting; but ...it's a personal thing, whic is nice and gives us much variety....another plus.

Washcloths are a perfect small item to work on, to toss in your purse and have something almost anywhere or anytime to work on.

Trying to find some history behind washcloths are came up pretty dry.  The defination says a washcloth is a small absorbent cloth used for cleaning, be it an item, or a person.  It says the texture in a washcloth is good for exfoliating vs washing with your hands only, or a cloth that's so smooth there is no texture to it.

I stumbled onto a blog written by a young Black Male who says washcloths, the use of them is a racial issue.  Huh?  I said outloud as I reading his blog.  He explains he knows only Black people use them and White people don't and why hasn't anyone discussed the racial issue of washcloths!  His blog is quite entertaining I might add, and he has a HUGE following and the comments were also entertaining.  He also discusses how dirty a washcloth is, people indicate you use them once and themn you launder them.  Seriously, there were almost 50 comments on his entertaining blog about washcloths.  AND there were many people identifying themselves as Black who don't use as well as those indentifying themselves as Whites who do, so that pretty much decided the debate wasn't in need of futher research and investigation.  LOL.  How creative some folks are.

Throughout the years our numbers of donated cotton (knit and crocheted) washcloths has grown and they are always items well received.  They are used both as washcloths and as dishcloths.  There are used when people first come to the shelter with very little personal care products, they're put in the Welcome Home Packs when folks leave the shelters for permanet housing, and our folks under the bridges also use them.

At the close of 2013 I asked if folks were trying to decide between making a hat, or scarf or washcloth to please opt for the items that would keep people warm....the greater need.  Because of that naturally our numbers fell.  I'm ok with that.  That's not to say we don't need or want cotton washcloths, or that you shouldn't make and donate them.

Donation Totals:

2011......289
2012......577 (+288 more then previous year
2013......784 (+207 more then previous year
2014......334 (-243 less then previous year

AVERAGE  496 which is 162 more then our last year.

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Knitted and Crocheted Slippers

Pictured are slipper/socks.  We knit and crochet and donate many different styles of slippers.  Slippers provide extra warmth, and give folks a chance to wash their socks and still have something on their feet.  Many homeless and those living in shelters have few socks so the slippers can truly be a necessity for them.  If they've been outside in the cold and wet during the day and get a bed for the night in a temporary shelter, it gives them the ability to put something dry on their feet while their shoes and or socks dry out.

I didn't find a great deal of information regarding the history of slippers in my google search,  but what I did find was interesting.  It's believed the date back to the times of Sultans and their harems.  Slippers were a symbol of captivity.  One really couldn't run away without proper footwear, and since slippers were typically very light weight with little to protect the foot and or where slippery, they weren't something even a loveable concubine would attempt on cobblestones.  Slippers moved from The East to Medieval Europe and often were a sign of nobility.

Slippers were made initially to be fancy, made of delicate fabric and only became a true shoe replacement in later years.  Nowdays some folks wear slippers indoors instead of shoes, feeling it's cleaner; but there's also a great safety concern that people should not wear slippers instead of shoes as their feet aren't protected from injury and the number of folks who fall because wearing slippers vs shoes caused them to fall has been reported in medical communities.

Our Donated Slipper Counts:
2011......128
2012......153 (+25 more then the previous year
2013......220 (+67 more then the previous year
2014......121 (-32 less then the previous year.

AVERAGE for those 4 years is 155 pairs of slippers which  is  34 more then our most recent total.

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.