Softer Streets

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Atlanta, GA
Softer Streets

We provide durable, water-resistant, insulated, easily portable sleeping mats to people experiencing unsheltered homelessness.

Amy La Porte began Softer Streets Inc. as a passion project to help those in her own downtown neighborhood. An accomplished skier and high-mountain climber, Amy is no stranger to sleeping perched on snowy mountains, and knows the value of quality camping mats to counter the effects of hypothermia. Climbers and backcountry skiers live by the convection principle: If they have only one item to use

for warmth while they sleep, they put it on the ground – not over their body. This prevents heat from being drawn away from the body in a never-ending, potentially fatal cycle. In the winter of 2016, Amy’s heart broke to see people sleeping outside her apartment building with nothing more than cardboard, newspaper or thin fabric between them and the concrete. So she used her own money to buy them sleeping mats. Months after handing out those original mats, she still sees them slung over the shoulders of people who are now sleeping a little easier.

08/12/2025

Softer Streets responds to President Trump's latest Executive Order to crack down on homelessness:

“This vanity-driven policy deprives people of their basic rights, makes it harder to solve homelessness, and signals an expanded reliance on police sweeps and forced institutionalization as primary responses. These are strategies proven to be costly, ineffective, and inhumane.”

12/06/2024

Softer Streets and our incredible partner Klymit, were able to get 200 tons of aid to victims of the Turkish-Syrian earthquake, by enlisting the help of Turkish Airlines and the Turkish U.S. Consul General. This is not possible without the help of our incredible donors. Thank you so much for your ongoing support.

https://softerstreets.org/donate/

10/23/2024

Softer Streets’ volunteers, led by our indomitable Vice President, Nicole File are delivering outdoor sleep gear to Hurricane Helene survivors in nine counties in North Carolina, including remote parts of the state where aid dispatch has been scarce. Our partnership with Klymit has grown to include Gathr Outdoors, and with their help, we were able to get six truckloads (say it again, SIX) piled with sleeping bags, mats, hammocks, and blankets to those who are now facing an unthinkable new reality: homelessness. Many families have been forced by floodwaters into the deep woods, some are sleeping in make-shift shelters, on their friends' basement floors, or even in the cars they used to flee. We know many good people and agencies are doing what they can, but there are still needs that are not being fully met by existing federal disaster relief programs, including long-term sleeping supplies. Many victims cannot rebuild, and many have months before they can renter their homes, so temporary supplies must be durable, and these items must also be rated for lows in the 30s as they face a brutal winter ahead.

None of this would be possible without Nicole whose acts of great devotion in her beloved home of North Carolina are exemplary. Her tireless commitment to helping others is invaluable to our charity and the communities she serves.

Joint press release here:

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gathr-outdoors-providing-critical-outdoor-gear-to-survivors-of-hurricane-helene-302278014.html

10/13/2024

Softer Streets is delighted to announce the addition of Judi Moolten to our board as Community Outreach Director. Judi’s intricate knowledge of the geography and soul of Western North Carolina, combined with her experience healing communities after mass tragedies, make her an especially valuable gift as Softer Streets responds to the devastation of Hurricane Helene.

As a successful realtor running Grateful Mindset Properties in Hendersonville, North Carolina, Judi brings an intimate understanding of just about every neighborhood in Western NC and the diverse individuals who live there. Her weekly nationwide radio show is known for highlighting the region and its wonderful people, and Judi herself is known for her deep involvement in the community and cultures.

Previously, Judi was clinical director at a mental trauma training facility, helping First Responders, fellow mental health workers, and others process critical incident trauma. She treated and trained police officers, social workers, and more after major disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre and the Boston Marathon bombing.

In addition to providing critical logistics support and scrambling numbers of volunteers, Judi has already helped gather and distribute large numbers of lifesaving supplies from chainsaws to medical supplies and PPE to a truckload of new socks and underwear.

We look forward to sharing in Judi’s creative generosity and we know our clients will benefit deeply from her skills.

03/01/2023

Thanks to your generosity, our inflatable mats (as well as sleeping bags, pillows and socks) have been distributed through AFAD, the Turkish equivalent of FEMA. We did this in tandem with Turkish Airlines, Klymit and the Turkish American Cultural Society of Colorado (TACSCO) We are so incredibly grateful for the support YOU all provided to make our biggest international distribution effort possible.

02/10/2023

SOFTER STREETS AND KLYMIT ANNOUNCE $250,000+ IN SUPPLIES TO EARTHQUAKE SURVIVORS

We should be used to amazing us by now, but this is over the top even for them. We are proud to be part of this lifesaving mission, humbled by Klymit’s faith in us, and as usual overwhelmed by the generosity of you, our donors. Details below on the many essential items on the way to those left homeless by this disaster.

We are also hard at work on finding avenues directly into Syria. Stay tuned for more news on that front. Will you donate $15 or more to ensure that even these nearly unreachable victims get critical aid? Please give or share through our existing fundraiser posted below, or at SofterStreets.org.

12/25/2022

Many thanks to the Episcopal Church of the Annunciation in Marietta GA for funding 26 sleeping mats and a bunch of giant warmers, and to The Way church of Woodstock GA for opening their hall as a warning center for unsheltered people. We arrived with our delivery just as they ran out of sleeping mats that had been borrowed from another church. Not only do their guests have a comfortable mat to sleep on tonight, but they get to take them with them tomorrow. I love the sign as parishioners leave the church’s parking lot.
PS shout out to Denver CO, where we only found 2 unsheltered people despite hours of looking, because they opened a bunch of warming centers and even the stadium. Atlanta, please take note.

12/05/2022

More than a little humbled that L.V. offered me a few dollars when I told him my purse had been stolen so I couldn’t give him any. Most people are so great. LV told me he can’t sleep in a tent due to claustrophobia from PTSD, so “the first thing I do every morning is start looking for cardboard to sleep on that night.” Now he won’t have to anymore. LV introduced me to several of his friends, who now also have our sleeping mats. “People donate a lot of things,” he said, “but these? NOBODY gives us these.” They do now, LV. We parted ways as he took orders for food he was going to buy his friends with his day’s panhandling earnings. May we all be so generous this holiday season. If you’d like to join us, $15 helps one person who is unsheltered for any reason. Www.softerstreets.org

11/29/2022

Anyone. Anywhere. Unsheltered for any reason. This we are helping more people sleep a little easier, in more places than ever. Our sleeping pads are portable, water-resistant, ergonomic and provide crucial insulation when sleeping on cold, hard, and/or wet surfaces. From Utah to Ukraine, Georgia to… well, the other Georgia, we are helping prevent permanent injuries so people can get back on their feet. You can help one person for just $15. Donate here: https://softerstreets.org/donate/

Address

101 Marietta Street NW #3600
Atlanta, GA
30303

Website

http://www.softerstreets.org/

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