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Since I've moved to Austin, I've been troubled by the large number of homeless people, mostly men, who panhandle
politely on every corner at every intersection. I decided to check around and try to discover who these panhandlers are. In Austin, 40% of them are veterans: Vietnam predominantly, but Gulf War veterans are
joining the ranks in increasing numbers, and veterans of the Iraq war
are already showing up on the streets. Austin, like many southwestern cities, is a relatively warm place to winter. However, it does freeze here, and the nights are often very cold.I spoke with the local
organizations who work with these men (and women) and the number one request of those who live on the streets is for hats and socks. Can you imagine? Not money, or food, but hats and socks. As a knitter, I can't let go
of that, and so I've begun knitting and soliciting hats, socks, mittens, and scarves for distribution through the Homeless Task Force
of Austin. Anyone who knits something warm and useful for the homeless in Austin can rest assured that socks, mittens, hats, or scarves are appreciated in ways you can't even imagine. In ways I hope we never have to imagine.
Nearly 2000 homeless veterans are here in Austin! I can knit pretty fast when I put my mind to it, and I can approach this as warming-up-one-homeless-vet-at-a time, but I thought I'd offer a trade with
you. If you'll knit one cap, fingertip-less pair of gloves, or scarf with at least 25% wool content for Austin's local homeless, I'll knit a similar-sized item with similar specs for your local needs. I'll also be very
grateful for your help. E-mail me at knitdogs at austin dot rr dot com. I'll send my address. Want to know what's happening in your city or town? You can locate a community-based organization for homeless
veterans in your neighborhood here
. Just enter your state to search.You can read what the National Coalition for the Homeless is working on here
.You can find out what HUD is doing with your tax dollars for Local Homeless Assistance here
.You can write your representative in Washington
here
.When you are through fact-checking, start
knitting! You can be sure that any warm hats, socks, scarves, or mitts will be put to immediate, productive use. The items are taken to the Homeless Task Force cooridinator here, and then are distributed to the teams
who work directly with those on the street. Knit something, why don't you :-) The graphic on this page, and its smaller iteration on the blog page, is by Tamara Schaeffer, an Austin knitter who has been
knitting hats and scarves for this project just like a machine! |
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