Sock give-away is ‘step in the right direction’
Family Promise of Jacksonville received 2,750 pairs of Bombas socks valued at $33,000, sharing 1,750 pairs with four partner agencies. Bombas Socks had donated 50,000 pairs of socks to 25 Family Promise affiliates across the nation as part of its policy to donate a pair for every sock purchased by the public.
“We want the socks to be out in the community, on people’s feet and not sitting in a storeroom,” said Beth Mixson, development director for Family Promise of Jacksonville and an Ortega resident. “When your feet are warm and dry, you feel better.”
Family Promise of Jacksonville collaborates with 17 local congregations, multiple social service organizations, and 900 volunteers to help families experiencing homelessness return to stability. It provides intensive case management focusing on affordable housing, gainful employment, financial literacy, medical needs, childcare, and education. It offers three programs focusing on diversion, prevention, and shelter.
Taking part in the giveaway were the nonprofits Catholic Charities, Changing Homelessness, The Giving Closet Project, and the United Community Outreach Ministry (UCOM) Jacksonville. At the giveaway, the agencies, which serve a cross section of the community – homeless, elderly, students, job seekers and families – shared their plans for the socks.
Catholic Charities provided socks to participants in its workforce development program as well as others it serves. The workforce development program is a free program to help low-income, unemployed, or underemployed adults find work. The help it provides comes through its job readiness training program, interview coaching, and job referrals.
Changing Homelessness, a Riverside-based nonprofit with the mission to prevent and end homelessness, included one pair of socks in each of the 500 hygiene packets it distributed during the annual Point In Time Count. Formed in 1974 by a group of concerned social service agencies and religious leaders, Changing Homelessness manages $7 million in local, state, and federal funds. The nonprofit works by advocating, convening, and educating the community through the Northeast Florida Continuum of Care and initiatives like Built for Zero.
The Giving Closet Project, a Southside-based organization which provides clothing, hygiene products, and school supplies to K-12 students facing situational poverty, provided socks to Duval County Public School students. Through its unique referral process, it allows educators, counselors, and social workers to utilize its services throughout the school year.
Located in San Marco, UCOM Jacksonville provided the socks to elderly clients in its Meals on Wheels program as well as to individuals experiencing homelessness. The nonprofit works to stabilize families in crisis by providing food to the hungry through its food pantry, emergency services to prevent homelessness, scholarship programs and job referrals to raise the earning potential of its clients.
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