"Help people transform their lives:" Volunteers make special donation to help Milwaukee's homeless

MILWAUKEE -- On a blustery day like Thursday, October 29th, a little comfort went a long way for Milwaukee County's homeless. Volunteers made a special donation to the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.

They're a labor of love: Eleven sleeping mats made out of grocery bags by the AT&T Pioneers of Wisconsin, a charity group tasked this year with helping homeless across the state.

"We have lots of people who collect bags and drop them off, and we take them home and create these little magic mats that we hope will help many, many people," said Glorida Van Aacken, with AT&T Pioneers of Wisconsin.

"It looks a little intimidating when you first start, but it's a good project when you're just sitting around, when it's cold, watching a football game," said Van Aacken.

They're donated to St. John the Evangelist's Open Door Café , where more than 100 people are served a hot meal each day.

"Because of their generosity, folks are going to have that extra layer of comfort between themselves and the sidewalk," said Shellie Roder, director of outreach ministries at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.

Through Milwaukee County's new plan to end chronic homelessness, the housing division seeks out the homeless and will give out the mats.

"This is the perfect example of something we can give somebody to provide some comfort while we transition them into housing," James Mathy, with the Milwaukee County Housing Division.

Everything single one of these mats is made by hand. If you take a look, you can see there are colors and patterns. Each one takes 175 hours to make and there are 500 plastic bags per mat.

"Regardless of the struggles we have been in, we can all dig deep as a community really help people transform their lives into something new," said Roder.

This is the first donation of mats. AT&T Pioneers will continue to make them and donate them to shelters across the state.