Good Morning Washington!

A person huddling under a blanket in Washington, DC

Photo courtesy of Phil Roeder via Flickr

Hope you slept well. It was cold here, and windy too. As I fold and roll my bed and stuff it into plastic trash bags, I wonder who decided to purchase these damn grey blankets.  

Don’t get me wrong. I really appreciate them on nights like last night, but they leave a great deal to be desired.  

First they are made of felt. They look like dryer lint, and they shed something fierce. I comb and pick lint from my hair, ears and clothing all day long! Still I can’t get it all. They are not washable. If they get wet, they practically disintegrate. They are flimsily made. They are see through. They are not waterproof, and we all know they are not windproof. They would make good AC filters, but they are not good blankets.  

Photo of Charles Carson. Archive Photo

Yet mine have been stolen twice this year. Obviously, someone needed them more than I did.  

When blankets were first given out, each person was given two. That would be fine if they were big enough, if they weren’t so flimsy, if no one would steal them, if the trash man would not throw them away, if the police wouldn’t toss them due to “security concerns,” if it didn’t rain, if it didn’t snow, and if the wind didn’t blow. Only the crazed, alcoholic, lunatic homeless are required to carry everything they own everywhere they go all day long.  

Now only one blanket is given out per person. We’re told that this is due to a supply limited by a cost of $10.00 each.  

Blankets are made available when the temperature drops to 40 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. November 1 is the day mandated by the District for temperature to get that low. It’s a historical fact that the temperature has never been below 40 degrees Fahrenheit in D.C. between September 30th and November 1, EVER.  

[Read More: Blanket Worries]

Forty degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature you want to set your refrigerator to keep food. 40 degrees Fahrenheit is the perfect temperature for beer, ice tea, and sodas. Forty degrees Fahrenheit will KILL YOU!  

Hypothermia can be experienced at 55 degrees Fahrenheit if one is wet and there is a breeze blowing. This is due to windchill. The young, the elderly and the sick and infirm are affected by wind chill more than healthy, well-fed, well clothed, dry adults. Most homeless are not in the second group.  

As well, people have died of hypothermia in every month of the year in every state of the US. Hypothermia has no season, except in D.C.  

Another reason given for the blanket rule is that ‘you guys just throw them away.’ I don’t. No one I know does. We get our beds stolen or confiscated or trashed simply because we can’t take them with us and there is no place to safely store them that is open 24/7 and affordable (free).  

I don’t know if a solution can be found, but I do have a few suggestions to be considered if you would:  

Find a source for wool military surplus blankets or find a manufacturer to produce the same of a size 80 inches by 90 inches at a price not to exceed $10.00 each. Find a source for hypoallergenic blankets, same size, same price. Purchase ‘space blankets’ or plastic tarps not less than 80 inches by 90 inches or 7 feet by 8 feet in the case of tarps. Purchase rolls of Visqueen and cut it to a size 7 feet by 8 feet. Then, using double sided carpet tape, make a shell 8 feet long by folding and taping the Visqueen on the inside. Purchase used sheets from hotels, and, using the grey blankets as padding, sew 2 sheets together to make a washable, warm and durable quilt. Purchase sleeping bags rated for 0 degrees Fahrenheit to fit a 6’6” person who weighs 300 pounds or that zip together to form larger bags.  

Hire the homeless to make quilts or shells. Provide space and materials so that homeless can do it themselves. Get churches involved or other charitable organizations. Set up or provide 24/7 laundry service to clean blankets, quilts, sleeping bags, etc. STOP throwing our things away. STOP confiscating our things because you’re scared. Shoot. We have more to be afraid from you than you do of us. Remember: every time you take a bed, especially now, you essentially kill a human being.  

Street Sense vendor Charles Carson came to Writers Group with a handwritten draft of this piece. He read it to the enthusiastic group and worked one–on– one with writing coach Cara Schmidt. He now plans to move on, out of the area, but hopes to continue to contribute his ideas on how to help save lives. 

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