CLEVELAND — As the weather continues to drop, the need for shelter and warmth continues to rise for the less fortunate. A local organization is doing its part to ensure people have the necessities they need to stay warm during the cold season.
In November 2024, I spoke to the organization's owner about the change they were making in the Cleveland community.
RELATED: Local nonprofit organization makes a difference one wall at a time
“There’s a lot of warming shelters that are full or don’t have a lot of room for people,” said Founder of Walls of Love, Holly Jackson.
Jackson’s nonprofit organization gives people opportunities to pay it forward one wall at a time. During the winter, they work to bridge the gap by placing free weather gear on walls in lower-income neighborhoods around low-income communities in Ohio.
“When it's extremely cold outside, we focus on hats, gloves, scarves, hand warmers and tail warmers,” Jackson said.
All year round, they offer hygiene products, kids supplies and blankets. Volunteers place most of the items in plastic bags and hang them outside on walls at different locations for free.
In the last six years, the organization has expanded, with walls located in 36 states, including South Carolina, Detroit and Arizona.
“We always look for areas that are known to have a lot of unhoused, unsheltered people, but we don't deal with just the homeless. Even though that was originally our intent, we have now expanded to helping veterans, schools, families and we take referrals,” Jackson said.
Jackson says over the past six years, they have helped over a million people across the nation, and she is thankful for the volunteers who love what they do for the community.
“To have helped over 1.2 million people based on the fact that we have amazing volunteers and people that just love what we do, it's so heartwarming,” Jackson said.
Many volunteers feel a personal connection to Walls of Love and know first-hand how giving back can make a difference in someone’s life, like Etta Heck, who has been with the organization for two years.
“I’ve been in this situation before, and I bounced house to house for a little while with my kids. I was homeless and friends and family took me in until I got on my feet. So it is a blessing to be able to pay it forward,” said Heck.
Some volunteers, such as young 11-year-olds, are hoping to inspire the younger generation to do their part in giving back to the community.
“I want to help the homeless so that they can have shelter and food, and I want to see more kids and adults doing it too,” said 11-year-old Timmy.
Holly says the need for hygiene products and clothes has increased tremendously since COVID-19, and the need far surpasses what they can provide.
“People that were normally very comfortable in the amount of money that they were making are finding it very hard to continue. The struggle is real for a lot of people, and especially people who were already in a very precarious and rough situation,” Jackson said.
In honor of their efforts to help communities across the nation, Walls of Love was nominated as one of the 7 Brew Heroes in February last year.
“We are in competition with the other 7 Brew Heroes. We have the ability, based on votes, [to] win $10,000 for us to bring back to Ohio so that we can continue to serve our communities here. “We're just asking people to go vote, and there's no limit on it,” Jackson said.
In March, the organization will also be hosting a fundraiser event to raise money to buy necessities for the community.
You can vote for Walls of Love as the 7 Brew Hero by CLICKING HERE.
Anyone can donate to Walls of Love through their website.
