Murfreesboro Mat Makers has been making sleeping mats from plastic shopping bags and distributing them to the homeless community for nearly five years.
The group was started by Murfreesboro residents Diane Brown and Delores Reed in 2016 after Brown saw a video of women in Union City making the mats. Brown asked in social media posts if anyone was interested in starting a similar group in Murfreesboro.
Reed, who had experience with a group that made sleeping mats for the homeless in Nashville, was the first to respond, and Murfreesboro Mat Makers was born.
The volunteers gather plastic shopping bags, cut and weave them into plastic yarn, crochet or knit them into the mats, and then distribute them. The mats provide a layer of comfort, sanitation and weather-proofing between the homeless and the ground that serves as their bed, as well as blankets and bundling and covering for their personal possessions.
Reed has coordinated with churches, community groups, and even jail and prison inmates to assist in the production of the mats.
Distributing the sleeping mats falls mostly to Cold Patrol and Journey Home, other Murfreesboro homeless outreach groups.
Lifelong Murfreesboro resident Sandy Bell, who has been involved in street ministry for almost 30 years, heard about the online group through a friend. She said there is widespread appreciation for the mats.
“You can’t go to a homeless camp (in Murfreesboro) and not see a mat,” she said. “If you think about it, when it’s raining a lot, and their stuff is soaking wet, and the bottom of their tents are soaking wet, the mats are so appreciated, and they see the amount of time and dedication that go into making the mats.”
Murfreesboro Mat Makers is open to anyone and is always in need of volunteers to make and distribute mats. For information, see their Facebook page.
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