I spent my career working on computers where your products aren’t something you can hold in your hands. When I retired I had a dream to quilt. Quilting allowed me to create something physical that I hoped would be useful, valued, and enjoyed for a long time. I also started volunteering at the Network Coffee House in Denver, which isn’t a traditional coffee shop, but a welcoming space for people experiencing homelessness. I realized how great the need is for blankets for those who are experiencing homelessness. I started making such blankets, they aren’t usually quilted, but are designed for warmth, practicality, and portability.

I had seen a notice online about the Homeless Remembrance Blanket Project coming to Denver in 2025. Then Pastor Libbie mentioned that she had been asked by the Project if Holy Cross would provide a location for blankets to be sent from around the country, and would I be interested in helping. I jumped at the chance! Not only is this a visual statement about those who are experiencing homelessness, but it is a blanket drive for those who are trying to survive without four walls and a roof over their heads.

Writing is a medium of communication that represents language through the inscription of signs and symbols.

I hope the hundreds of blankets used in the display will warm those who are cold during the coming winter months. I wish that the people receiving the blankets knew about the many, many people who put so many hours into sewing, quilting, knitting or crocheting the blankets that warms them. That they did this work to give it away to another person who needs it. I hope that this event might awaken a few people to the knowledge that we are all in this world together, it isn’t an “us vs. them” thing… it is only “us”.

By making and giving blankets, I am trying to live out Matthew 25:40, “…whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Through volunteering, I have met some of the people who have or will receive these blankets. They each have their own story, and their own issues. They are individuals who are surviving bad times, but they are all children of God, all worthy of God’s grace and a blanket to keep warm.

A Mother's Example

by Ian Stitt, Executive Director of The Network

For the past 10 years, I’ve worked in homeless services—supporting youth, doing outreach, managing a Safe Outdoor Space, and now serving as Executive Director of Network Coffee House. In that time, I’ve attended every Homeless Memorial Vigil but one. For me, it’s a sacred space—often the only time we pause to grieve people we’ve come to know, love, and care for. Too often, service providers and the unhoused community are the only ones who know a person’s name, story, and legacy. At the Vigil, we speak names aloud so no one is forgotten, and we honor the remarkable survivors they were.

Through all these roles, one need has remained constant: blankets. They’re simple, but in Denver winters they can mean the difference between life and death. The Homeless Remembrance Blanket Project was a beautiful surprise when my mom told me about it—a reminder that hope, even in the darkest times, is still hope. People from across the world poured love into blankets for a community they’ve never met. It reminded me I’m not as alone in this fight against systemic injustice and poverty as it can feel.

I’m not sure what my role would have been without my mom. After retiring, she took up quilting and began making blankets for Network, always wishing she could do more—yet every blanket mattered. Seeing her help organize the Project in Denver, and watching her pride as she set up the display and pointed out blankets she made and coordinated through Holy Cross, reminded me that anyone can play a part in addressing homelessness.

Network is honored to receive blankets from the Project. I recently gave one to a man named Paul after he shared that he’d given his own to a woman with nothing to keep her warm. This is how love grows—one small act at a time.

Small nonprofits like Network thrive on kindness like this. One donation, one volunteer, one conversation can change a life. I hope you’ll keep that impact going through your support, time, and partnership.