FREE SELF CARE KITS

Inspired by the heroic but often unsung work of the people who have kept local emergency housing shelters running throughout the pandemic, Minneapolis resident Joan Vorderbruggen launched a grassroots “Self-Care Kit Supply Drive” that culminated with the delivery of 200 kits on Friday, Feb. 11, 2022.

Nearly 70 community members participated in the drive to create the kits, which were styled as gift baskets loaded with donated self-care items such as scented soaps and lotions, bath salts, candles, chocolates, and more. Each basket included a handwritten thank you card. Workers from the Harbor Light Center, Bethesda Shelter, and Haven Housing received baskets.

Vorderbruggen serves as a volunteer co-chair of the Salvation Army Harbor Light Advisory Council and is a regular volunteer for Haven Housing, but the Self-Care Kit Supply Drive is a personal, grassroots effort. “Time and time again, I have watched these shelter workers give so much of themselves for our communities’ most vulnerable people,” she said. “Because of the dire needs of the people they serve, shelter staff are often overlooked. I wanted to do something to show how much we appreciate these unsung heroes within our frontline healthcare and housing systems.”