Free bazaar for the homeless

If you know anything about Cape Town, you know about Green Point. It's a nice place by the sea. A spoonful of tar adds to it the problem of the homeless. There's a lot of them. In 2010, the police tried to solve this problem by resettling all the homeless ... in other parts of the city.



A couple of months ago, copywriter Kayli Vee Levitan and art director of advertising agency M&C Saatchi, Maximilian Pazak, decided to do something to make it a little easier for the homeless. The result was the Street Store project, in which anyone can make a donation in the form of clothes, and homeless people can choose something that suits them in size.

Kylie Wee Levitan:
We were told that it was better not to give anything to people because they were getting used to it and they were counting on it. At the same time, other people do not know where to get the donations that are intended for them. Usually getting help can seem humiliating. Homeless people are simply handed out things, regardless of whether they fit them or not.



Haven (Kylie’s copywriting agency) and M&C Saatchi (where Maximilian works) have developed five posters, two of which also serve as hangers or bedding for clothes and shoes.

Two weeks ago, The Street Store launched its first bazaar. Starting at half past seven in the morning, the volunteers temporarily stopped the distribution because they ran out of 500 packages in which they were handing out items.

More than 1,000 people came to us. Everyone could get 3 items of clothing, and some change in addition. The first bazaar was very successful. After his graduation, Kylie received a lot of reviews and donations.
According to Kylie, passers-by would sometimes come up and ask if they could buy things. “We said no, it’s a donation for the homeless.”



The organizers allowed everyone to use the layouts of their posters. That is, anyone can organize such an action in their city.

We decided we had to do that if we wanted to expand the project beyond just one street. We encourage everyone to take advantage of our idea.

During the planning phase, we talked to [homeless] people. Many of them said they had long forgotten what it meant to be part of society, and that many had never even had the opportunity. We can't change their lives forever, but we can try to bring them closer to normal.

Source: thinkgreen.ru