Sacramento homeless advocate Jan Wilson recently launched a project to collect unwanted, viable men’s, women’s and children’s shoes and all sizes of gently used socks for local homeless. Photo by Lance Armstrong

Jan Wilson shows the condition of a pair of shoes that had been worn by a local homeless man until she provided him with replace shoes in much better condition. Photo by Lance Armstrong

Jan Wilson, a local homeless advocate who is known by many people as “the extra layer of clothing lady,” has recently received the support of several East Sacramento businesses.
Last week, Wilson, who is a fifth generation Sacramentan, approached these businesses with her hope that they would assist her in a new project.
Wilson, who has dedicated herself to collecting and distributing cast-off clothing and blankets for the homeless for nearly 12 years, has launched a drive to collect different sizes of unwanted, viable men’s, women’s and children’s shoes and all sizes of gently used socks.
The East Sacramento businesses, which have agreed to assist with this new project include: Allstate Insurance at 4765 J St., Socal’s Tavern at 5200 Folsom Blvd., Club Raven at 3246 J St., Guitar Workshop at 3248 J St. and Kerrie Kellie Design Lab at 3252 J St.
Also assisting with this project is St. Philomene Catholic Church at 2428 Bell St., the XO Lounge at 1400 Broadway, Brownie’s Lounge at 5858 South Land Park Drive and the Pocket Club at 5043 Freeport Blvd.
With the exception of Guitar Workshop and Kerrie Kellie Design Lab, which are promoting Wilson’s project, all of these aforementioned businesses, as well as St. Philomene Catholic Church, are serving as shoe collection drop-off points.
The shoe collection project will assist the homeless through the homeless survival private charity Loaves & Fishes at 1321 North C St., Union Gospel Mission at 400 Bannon St. and St. John’s Shelter for women and children at 4410 Power Inn Road.
Collections for this project will be received through Dec. 31.
In a meeting with the East Sacramento News last week, Wilson explained how she became involved in assisting Sacramento’s homeless.
“After being approached by so many panhandlers and not having enough money to help them all, I decided to use my God-given talents as a promoter and organizer to glean donations from the public,” Wilson said. “I know a lot of homeless people, some of them I went to school with. We all need to assist one another in this world. I am very blessed in life and I want to give back and this is the way that I can.”
Although Wilson receives no monetary compensations for assisting the homeless, she said that she is rewarded for her efforts in other ways.
“The rewards for me doing this are two-fold,” Wilson said. “First is the knowledge that someone has some relief from the cold and now they know that people out there care. And the other is the raising of the social conscious among the people that have supported my efforts throughout the years. I love it when they tell me that they literally gave the coat off of their back to someone in need or when a bartender lets me know that the ‘person in need’ came by to pick up a pair of tennies and the bartender says it gave them the ‘warm fuzzies.’ Bartenders never say ‘warm fuzzies.’”
Bill Farrell, owner of Socal’s Tavern, said that he decided to become involved with Wilson’s project after he was approached by one of his friends.
“There’s a mutual friend (Deb McGee, daytime bartender of the XO Lounge) that we know that mentioned that Jan was willing to step up and try to do some good work and she wanted to know if we could use my location as a drop-off point,” Farrell said.
Farrell, who was quick to allow a shoe collection drop-off point to be located at his business, said, “There’s definitely a need (to collect shoes for the homeless). It’s great when people step up to do that work. (Wilson is) willing to step up and do the good work, and it’s always great to help out the people who are willing to do the yeamon’s work. It helps all of us.”
Farrell is no newcomer to helping others in need, as his business is already a drop-off point for used sporting goods for St. John’s Shelter.
Amanda Malmstrom, agency manager at Allstate Insurance, said that Allstate Insurance is also proud to be serving as a drop-off location for Wilson’s project.
“We’re lucky to be a part of (the project), because we, as well, are interested in helping people who are less fortunate than we are, and I think it’s a great thing to do,” Malmstrom said.
Dave Lynch, owner of the Guitar Workshop, said that he enjoys assisting projects to give people a “hand up” in life.
“Everyone at some point in their life is going to need a hand up and it could be any one of us,” Lynch said. “I would only hope that someone would offer that to me the way that I would offer it to them. If I could give someone a hand up, not a hand out, then we want to do that. In order for us to survive, we need to survive as a team, not as just individuals doing our thing. It’s really a group effort.”
Although Wilson has taken on her shoe collection project, she has no plan to relinquish her role as “the extra layer of clothing lady.”
“After nearly 12 years of assisting the homeless by providing them with extra layers of clothing and blankets, I have no choice, but to keep collecting these items due to the fact that people are always asking me if I’m still collecting clothes and I can’t say, ‘No.’” It’s the equivalent of a runaway train and I am the conductor,” Wilson said.
For additional information about Wilson’s shoe collection project, call (916) 30-GIVER (304-4837).

Pocket area resident Jan Wilson is in her 10th year of collecting and distributing clothing and blankets to members of the homeless community of Sacramento. / Valley Community Newspapers photo, Lance Armstrong

Known by this title in different parts of the city, “the extra layer of clothing lady” has developed a positive reputation for her assistance to the homeless community of the Sacramento area.

In her everyday life, this person is Pocket area resident Jan Wilson. But during various nights during the winter months, she serves a different role under this earned title.

Decade of collecting

For the past 10 years, Wilson has been aggressively collecting “cast-off,” used clothing and blankets and distributing these articles directly to the less fortunate of society who are in need of additional warmth during cold nights.

Wilson, a fifth generation Sacramentan and a 1983 graduate of John F. Kennedy High School, recently described the events that led to her decision to assist the homeless community in this manner.

“After many accounts of being asked for money from panhandlers, I started carrying around extra layers of clothing during the wintertime, so when somebody asked me for ‘spare change,’ I would be able to offer them something more viable as an alternative,” Wilson said. “As a result, my car became a beacon for the homeless. At times, when I am in the Land Park area, for example, I have come out to my car only to find someone waiting for me in order to ask me if I had any clothing to give away.”

The items of clothing accepted for the project are sweatshirts, flannel shirts, sweaters, jackets, scarves, shoes and matching or mismatching socks that can be repurposed as gloves.

Jan Wilson places a bag filled with donated clothing and blankets in the back of the car that she uses to transport these and other donated items to people in need. / Valley Community Newspapers photo, Lance Armstrong

The majority of the donated clothing, as well as blankets, for her project, Wilson stressed, is distributed for the purpose of providing “upper body warmth.”

Initially, Wilson collected clothing from her own closet, as well as from the closets of her friends and family members.

Wilson said that because she had exhausted her resources amongst her friends and family by her fourth year of collecting extra layers of clothing and blankets, she found it necessary to find other avenues to collect such donations.

Clothing & blanket drop offs

Fortunately for Wilson, she discovered three local businesses that were willing to comply with her request to become a drop-off point for anyone who was interested in assisting with the clothing and blankets donation portion of her project. These businesses are: Pocket Club at 5043 Freeport Blvd., XO Lounge at 1400 Broadway and Brownie’s Lounge at 5858 South Land Park Drive.

Dedicated to assisting Wilson with her project, several local business employees and patrons have provided exceptional support through their donations of clothing and blankets at these drop-off points.

These people include: bartenders Susie Roberts and Janet Galsote of the Pocket Club at 5043 Freeport Blvd., bartenders Deb McGee and Barbara Galvan of the XO Lounge, bartender Patrick McFarlin of Brownie’s, office manager Tammy Smith and real estate agents Violet Reed and Natalie Feirl of Century 21 Real Estate at 354 Florin Road and members of Elks Lodge No. 6 at 6446 Riverside Blvd. and patrons of the Flame Club at 2130 16th St.

Jan Wilson inspects a jacket that was donated to her project to warm the homeless during cold winter nights. / Valley Community Newspapers photo, Lance Armstrong

Providing names of most contributors to her project is not so simple, Wilson notes, considering that about 90 percent of the clothing and blankets for the project are anonymously donated.

Galvan, who resides in midtown Sacramento, said that she is pleased to have the XO Lounge serve as one of the project’s drop-off points.

“(Wilson) came in (to the XO Lounge) and asked if it was okay if we put a box here for the clothes and naturally, we said, ‘Yes,’” Galvan said. “I think it’s a wonderful thing what (Wilson) is doing. A lot of customers have donated to (the project). She’ll be giving (the clothes and blankets) out during the holidays. It’s like a little gift for a lot of people.”

Pocket resident Judy Willis is among the locals who have enjoyed assisting Wilson in her efforts to present homeless in Sacramento with warm clothing and blankets.

“I donated a jacket, because the color wasn’t right,” Willis said. “I admire (Wilson) for her spirit, her effort and I plan to give more (clothing).”

Wilson said that she is extremely grateful to the many people in the community who have assisted her with her project.

“I couldn’t have been able to help out so many people in need without the overwhelming generosity of the community,” Wilson said. “For that, I am truly thankful and blessed.”

With the assistance of the drop-off points, local contributors and word of mouth advertising, the process of Wilson’s distribution operation begins every October.

By November, Wilson’s donation collections for the project are in full swing.

Each year, Wilson hopes to have a sufficient supply of clothing and blankets to make her first round of deliveries by mid-December.

Jan Wilson shows an example of the type of clothing that she is seeking for her project. / Valley Community Newspapers photo, Lance Armstrong

As she has done for the past decade, Wilson, after finding a companion to help her with her deliveries, makes her deliveries using her own transportation and gas money.

Routinely driving a small car to make stops at her drop-off points to pick up donations, Wilson then loads bags and boxes of clothing and prepares them for her deliveries.

Wilson, who makes the majority of her deliveries in downtown Sacramento, said that she delivers warm clothing and blankets to the needy during the coldest nights in the capital city.

“When its 6:30 p.m. at night and I don’t want to go outside because it’s so cold, that’s when I decide that it’s time to bring the clothing out to those on the street who are in need of extra layers of clothing,” Wilson said. “We all have to help each other out in this world. By bringing out the clothing, my hope is that these people (in need) realize that they aren’t just nameless and faceless people and that there are people out there who care about their well-being. I also hope that this effort helps to restore a little bit of faith in human kind.”

lance@valcomnews.com