Give A Blanket

"Fact 1: Over half a million people are homeless. On any given night, there are over 600,000 homeless people in the U.S., according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)."

Fact 2: "One quarter of homeless people are children. HUD reports that on any given night, over 138,000 of the homeless in the U.S. are children under the age of 18. Thousands of these homeless children are unaccompanied, according to HUD."

Fact 3: "Tens of thousands of veterans are homeless. Over 57,000 veterans are homeless each night, according to HUD. Sixty percent of them are in shelters, the rest unsheltered. Nearly 5,000 are female."

Fact 4: "Many people are homeless because they cannot afford rent.The lack of affordable housing is a primary cause of homelessness, according to the NLCHP.(National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty)"

Fact 5: "Domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness among women." According to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty (NLCHP), more than 90 percent of homeless women are victims of severe physical or sexual abuse, and escaping that abuse is a leading cause of their homelessness.

Fact 6: "There are fewer places for poor people to rent than before." According to the NLCHP one eighth of the nation's supply of low-income housing has been permanently lost since 2001."

Fact 7:"In the last few years millions have lost their homes. Over 5 million homes. have been foreclosed on since 2008; that's one out of every 10 homes with a mortgage."

Fact 8: "The government does not help as much as you think. There is enough public rental assistance to help about one out of every four  extremely low-income households. Those who do not receive help are on multi-year waiting lists."

Fact 9: "One in five homeless people suffers from untreated severe mental illness." While about 6 percent of the general population suffers from severe mental illness, 20 to 25 percent of the homeless suffer from severe mental illness, according to government studies.

Fact 10: "Cities are increasingly making homelessness a crime. A 2014 survey of 187 cities by the NLCHP found that 24 percent of cities make it a city-wide crime to beg in public, 33 percent make it illegal to stand around or loiter anyplace in the city, 18 percent make it a crime to sleep anywhere in public, 43 percent make it illegal to sleep in your car, and 53 percent make it illegal to sit or lie down in particular public places. And the number of cities criminalizing homelessness is steadily increasing."

As you can see from these quotes from the huffington post article there are several hundred thousand homeless people. If you didn't have a safe place to live and sleep, you would be devastated. This is the case for all homeless people. We dont want them to feel discomfort during this depressing time of grief and shock. If you were homel;ess, you would feel alone and scared. The least we can do is give them a blanket, so they can feel safe. A blanket offers comfort, warmth, and relief. It is the perfect "emedicine" for this shocking time in a homeless person's life.

This is where you come in. I am asking for donations of some new or gently used blankets to be given to those less fortunate. I would completely undersatnd if you didin't give away your favorite and most prized blanket, but rememeber that you are helping someone who doesn't have much.

So, please dont just give away a piece of cloth with no quality. We want your blanket to bring joy to someone else. Thank you all!