Element S(urvival)

One of the things I love about my day job is all the interesting people I come across.  They range in all walks of life from business owners to the poorest of poor folks.  Today one of the gentleman I met was a homeless man coming in to feed himself on all the free samples we were giving away.

I didn’t have anything edible, only some packets of laundry detergent.  He took two “to make my pack smell nice” and then confessed to me that he was homeless.  I told him that I too had been homeless at one time.  He looked at me shocked, backed up and eyed me from head to toe before coming back to say in a low tone, “For real?  Like sleeping on a sidewalk and begging for change homeless?”

“Yep, except I used to jump in the fountains to grab change sometimes.  I learned not to do that too close to dark in the fall… I almost froze to death one night like that!”  His expression changed from shocked to camaraderie.  “Ain’t that the truth!  I’m getting too old to be chased outta fountains but I still do it!”  We had a good laugh.

The advertisement I passed along with my sample had a scratch and sniff sticker on it to give an idea of the detergent’s scent.  He asked if I smelled like the detergent and if he could “scratch and sniff” me to see if he could smell “the street” on me.  I laughed and told him sure, not expecting him to follow thru.

He gave my shoulder a theatrical scratch and then bent over me and made a show of smelling.  “You don’t smell like that detergent, but you don’t smell like no streets neither.”  He backed up and looked at me.  “How’d you wash that off ya?”  I thought back to that time in my life and to when I left it all.  “I just decided to move on, and the smell stayed behind me.”

“What’d ya do to move on?” he asked interested.  “I just decided and then everything fell into place.  Nothing was going to happen until I decided and made the first move.”  He nodded and starting moving away.  “Well, ya smell good now.” and with that he was off for more samples.

That was a long time ago for me, and I was in my late teens/early twenties so my experiences were more of an adventure.  You can go without food and shelter a lot better when you’re young than when the ravages of age have set upon you.  Were I to try and sleep out in the elements now it would be a much sadder experience for me.

It’s my belief that no one can help the homeless off the streets until they decide they want to change their fate.  Until they reach that moment in their lives when they can make the decision to move on, there are people and places trying to help.  People like Veronika Scott, a student designer that has just created a coat that converts to sleeping bag.

Her design, which she calls Element S(urvival) weighs less than a pound, costs under $10 to make and can be converted to a sleeping bag that will withstand temperatures down to 17 degrees.  She has already created and given out 25 of her baggy coats to grateful residents of Detriot’s back alleyways.

Scott plans to move into full production of her coats after she graduates this December with her coat being available to mainstream consumers.  The proceeds from those sales will be used to purchase and distribute more of her practical and ingenious coats to those who need it most – the homeless.

Read more on this:

Design student creates coat for homeless people

Element Survival: Detroit design student develops coat for homeless to help save lives

The Empowerment Plan: Veronika Scott’s Winter Coat for Detroit