CHICAGO — A national organization that provides free coats to adults and children in need is working with the city to provide 18,000 coats for migrants this winter, and it needs donations to reach its goal.
One Warm Coat is working with nonprofits around Chicago — including Cradles to Crayons, Chicago Lights and Erie House — to collect the outerwear by the end of October.
Beth Amodio, the organization’s president and CEO, said the group needs coats in every size from infant to men’s 4XL. Coats should be clean and new or gently worn, and they should not have stains, holes or broken zippers, according to the group’s website.
One Warm Coat’s website has a map showing where you can drop off coats in Chicago. There are more than 100 local locations accepting coats, Amodio said.
Those without used gear to donate can help by contributing money to One Warm Coat or hosting a coat drive, Amodio said.
More than 18,500 migrants have come to Chicago since August 2022, when Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott and other border state politicians, unhappy with federal immigration policies, started busing asylum seekers to Chicago.
Most of the migrants are from Venezuela, which has struggled with political upheaval and an economic crisis resulting in severe food and medicine shortages, surging inflation and rising unemployment and violent crime.
While thousands are finding makeshift homes in city shelters and Chicago police stations, Amodio said the group is most concerned about the reports of hundreds of asylum seekers, including many children, sleeping outdoors in makeshift shelters.
“Children and older adults are more susceptible to problems like hypothermia than healthy adults because their bodies are unable to regulate body temperatures like an adult,” she said. “Even at 50 degrees Fahrenheit, hypothermia can set in, particularly with prolonged exposure like being out overnight.”
Neighbors also can help by donating to Cradles to Crayons, Chicago Lights and Erie House, or contacting those groups to see if they need help delivering the coats, Amodio said.
“What we really want to do is make sure that we get this outerwear into the hands of people who need it before the temperature really gets bitterly cold,” Amodio said. Having a coat “is a small but tangible thing, and it can have a huge impact on a person’s life.”
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