Homeless Remembrance Blanket Project Newsletter

April 2025 News

In 2024, #memorialblanket held a flash blanket display outside the Supreme Court building in Washington, DC, surrounded by protesters from around the country. On the anniversary of the SCOTUS Johnson v Grants Pass hearing (and subsequent ruling that falling asleep in public is a crime), advocates for the unhoused have decided to mark the date of this infamous hearing by staging protests across the country. We've been invited by the National Coalition for the Homeless to participate in this National Day of Action

During SCOTUS testimony, we listened with our own ears as a Justice asked why people in homelessness don't just go home. A befuddled attorney for the state department responded that he knew of only one type of homelessness preferable to a home, and that's in domestic violence situations.

We are partnering with some magnificent and courageous folks in MAINE who serve the victims of these awful crimes. Falling asleep shouldn't be a crime AND losing a home because of violent crime is all too common. Also, it turns out that they are the first state in the country whose Governor, recently in the news for receiving threats to apologize to an aggrieved president, signed a budget enshrining a Housing First model to address chronic homelessness. What better way to protest an awful Supreme Court decision than to celebrate a state that is getting it right!

We'll be making a mini blanket display in the Center of the Maine Mall in Portland, Maine on April 22nd. (a million thanks to the folks at the Maine Mall who are giving us space free of charge). 

IF YOU HAVE BLANKETS READY TO GO, AND YOU LIVE IN THE CARLISLE AREA - please drop them off at Create-a-Palooza, High Street, Carlisle, by April 14. (Then, feel free to keep going - we'll need a lot more in December.)

IF YOU HAVE BLANKETS READY TO GO, AND YOU LIVE IN MAINE - we're looking forward to seeing you.

IF YOU HAVE BLANKETS READY TO GO, AND YOU LIVE anywhere else, we'll get you details for shipping by the middle of next week.

It's great to see blanket makers like Elisabeth Boyer Albers already excited to make blankets. If you have some done too, we can use them for our April event.

Here is what Elisabeth had to say about her creation, "This is the blanket I am currently working on & I’ve gotta say I’m loving it. I am using Lion brand Mandala ombre yarns (one of my favorites) along with breaking up the sections with white. This will be another donated blanket to the Homeless Memorial Blanket Project. I have 7 completed blankets to donate so far & this will be #8." Thank you for the beautiful work, Elisabeth!

While the writer of the Homeless Remembrance Blanket Project newsletter took a break to focus on promoting Match Madness in March, the warming temperatures offer a perfect opportunity to take advantage of a fresh spring in the step.

Since Spring produces newfound energy after a long winter slog, we encourage our blanket makers to also take advantage and crochet, knit, or quilt your way into the art displays of #memorialblanket 2025! Demand for blanket volume just keeps increasing with two events on the dockets this year. We look forward to sharing your exquisite creations.