Welcome mats; Palatine church volunteers craft sleeping surfaces for homeless
Sometimes the simplest gifts are the best, and there’s not much more simple — but also necessary — than a place to lay down.
That’s what brought students from St. Thomas of Villanova School in Palatine and other volunteers together to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the parish’s TLC Ministry and continue its work.
The ministry creates sleeping mats out of discarded plastic grocery bags and provides them to JOURNEYS: The Road Home, a Palatine organization that offers services to people facing homelessness, and Angel of Lower Wacker Drive, which assists homeless people on Chicago's Lower Wacker Drive.
During the event dubbed a “Plarn-a-thon” students and volunteers crafted dozens of sleeping mats that can be used as a blanket or under a sleeping bag, providing insulation and a waterproof barrier for people who sleep on the ground.
“Plarn” is a mashed-up word for the type of plastic yarn made by cutting and tying plastic bags into strips and then rolling them into balls.
The TLC Ministry makes about three mats a month. It’s crafted some 400 mats in its 10 years, according to the Archdiocese of Chicago.