Design student creates 'sleeping bag coat' for homeless people [View all]

[Are_grits_groceries]

<snip>
The Detroit native has watched the homeless population of her economically savaged city explode to more than 30,000 in recent years, and she wants to help.

"What I found, in working at shelters and getting to know homeless people, is that pride is one of their biggest needs," Scott said. "Whether or not they can get into a shelter, they want to be able to take care of themselves."

Part of that pride, Scott learned, meant being able to sleep outside without freezing to death. In Detroit in the winter, a homeless person can die of exposure even in the daytime.
To Scott, the logical thing was to devise a warm coat for the daytime that could also be used as a life-saving blanket at night.

<snip>
Scott takes synthetic quilting used in industrial clothing and stitches it to an outer shell of Tyvek, a paper-thin, crinkly material used in mail envelopes and building insulation. Tyvek is so water resistant and heat-trapping that Scott and her friends have been able to sleep in 17-degree weather, in the snow, and stay warm, she said.

The coat-bag weighs only 1 pound and looks like an extra-large coat with a big hood. It costs $7 to $10 to produce.
<snip>

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/10/BAHR1L2HK8.DTL#

This could save a lot of lives. Unfortunately, homeless shelters and programs for them are being severely cut.
Hopefully, someone will bankroll this project. Modifications may need to be made, but it's a promising start!