Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 10/27/2021
NORTHAMPTON – Holly Abair, a longtime Northampton resident, is currently raising money to buy sleeping bags, socks and other integral materials for the city’s homeless population.
With winter fast approaching, Abair is using this money to specifically purchase Coleman 10 degree rated sleeping bags, thermal socks, electric space heaters and rechargeable jump boxes. The jump boxes will be key, especially since many of the homeless people Abair interacts with have jobs where they can recharge them.
Abair has lived in Northampton for a decade and specifically moved to downtown Northampton in January. While walking her dog through the downtown area, Abair has gotten to know a lot of the unhoused population in the area.
“A lot of them are really awesome people,” said Abair. “They’ve just been down on their luck and have had problems.”
According to Abair, year after year communities learn of homeless people freezing to death during the harsh New England winter. Because of this, the aforementioned items are much-needed resources to protect a vulnerable population in an area where housing prices are “astronomical,” according to Abair’s GoFundMe page.
“There’s one particular homeless person who I’ve been helping out a lot, and I was feeling bad because I was helping out this one person, but I can’t help out everybody,” said Abair. “So that’s why I threw up the fundraiser, to try to raise funds to help as many people as I could.”
Abair has been asking the homeless population about what they need to survive the winter.
In the latest update as of press time, Abair has raised $3,635 and ordered 51 sleeping bags to be shipped to Stephanie Smith, the full-time pastor of Cathedral in the Night Northampton assisting with distribution. The sleeping bags will be distributed to people during some of their future Sunday Meal events, which occur on a weekly basis in front of First Churches.
Abair has also distributed three sleeping bags independently, as of press time, and she hopes to raise more funds for toiletry kits and other jump boxes. “That’s one of the biggest things they’ve asked for, is toiletries,” said Abair.
Smith said she is very grateful for Abair’s fundraiser, because now the Cathedral in the Night Ministry can focus on raising money for other needs that they encounter. When speaking to people who attend the Sunday Meal, Smith said many people talk about the need for beds.
“Unfortunately, there’s never enough beds for everyone who would like to be inside, and for some people, it’s not comfortable to be inside,” said Smith. “This time of year, we just want to make sure everyone has some type of safe place to be.”
Distribution days for the sleeping bags will occur over the next couple of Sundays, according to Smith, especially as delivery of the bags continue to come in.
When asked about what Northampton and the state could do more of to accommodate the homeless population, Smith noted the importance of supportive housing. “How can we house people maybe in smaller groups, and have supportive services for them,” said Smith. Supportive housing would include checking in on people to make sure that they are doing well mentally, and helping them with groceries and other day-to-day activities.
“If there are wrap-around services for people, sometimes there’s less of a need for police intervention, or people don’t need to go to the hospital for care, which is so much more expensive,” said Smith.
Abair noted that there is a program in Northampton called “Humanity Pods,” which is an organization building shelters for the homeless population that can go on the back of a bike so people can take them from place to place. Beyond that, she wishes the city could allocate some municipal space so homeless people can park these pods or not have to live in a tent.
Cathedral is always looking for sleeping bags, tents, handwarmers and other important items to combat the harsh conditions of winter. They work with Friends of the Homeless in Northampton to help provide toiletries, clothing, and other necessities. Meanwhile, Abair said she is hoping to keep the fundraiser up through the winter and add items as more people suggest them.
“We’re so grateful that an ordinary citizen was like, ‘I can do something about this,’” said Smith, when talking about Abair’s fundraiser. “It’s not just about the thing that you give, but it also means people care and people matter. We’re just so grateful for Holly’s vision.”
To donate money and learn more about the fundraiser, people can visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/socks-sleeping-bags-for-northamptons-homeless.