A group of Pensacola women, members and friends from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, have been working for many months to create sleeping mats for the homeless. Meeting together weekly, they cut recycled grocery bags into sections, linked them together, forming plarn, and then crocheted the plarn into 6 feet by 3 feet sleeping mats. It takes about 700 grocery bags for each mat and many hours to complete each mat. Over the past six months, they created 12 sleeping mats to contribute to a worthy cause.
The Gulf Coast Veterans Advocacy Group (GCVAC) sponsored Homeless Veterans Stand Down, September 20, 2019, was a perfect opportunity to distribute those sleeping mats. The Salvation Army facility at 1501 N. Q Street was a busy place as volunteers from many organizations set up to distribute hygiene kits, Hepatitis A vaccinations, socks, blankets, as well as those special sleeping mats.
90 Works has a program assisting veterans with self-sufficiency. Their 90-day self-sufficiency program has a 90% success rate helping homeless veterans become self-sufficient. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs featured the Veterans Crisis Line. Several health care programs offered medical treatment plans and information on accessible healthcare.
The Florida Highway and Motor Safety’s Florida Licensing on Wheels bus set up to help veterans update driver’s licenses, and get photo identification cards.
Many Vets had a chance to get hair cuts offered by the Pensacola School of Cosmetology. What a self esteem boost!
GCVAC Director, Joseph Herring reported that 160 veterans attended the event.
“Everything went off flawlessly. It was a great success. Each fall, GCVAC sponsors a veterans stand down in Pensacola and in the Mississippi delta town of Greenville. We’ll be heading there next. We are thankful to all those who provided services, information and products,” he said.