Weather Together

encampments for unsheltered people in Minneapolis. Jeff initially gave what he could - a warm sleeping bag and an old Mountain Hardware puffy coat left over from an Alaska trek over a decade before. With dangerous below-zero weather quickly closing in, however, Jeff sent out his own urgent plea to his circle of family and friends for warm sleeping bags, clothes, and tents. The response was overwhelming. Bags and bags of things piled up on the front porch and quickly spilled over into the garage. Rather than hauling it all over to Julie, just to have her haul it up to the encampments, Jeff decided to start making the deliveries himself. With the help of family and friends, what started as a one-time crisis response quickly snowballed into a major undertaking which, ultimately, distributed over 250 sleeping bags, 140 tents, and 100 sleeping pads to encampments across Minneapolis and St. Jeff’s car was quickly replaced by rented U-Haul cargo vans. Gear donations even began to come in from Northern Minnesota outfitters, as well as from metro area outdoor stores. Jeff decided to start a tax-exempt nonprofit organization called Weather Together (coined by his wife) to provide expanded opportunities for others to do the same. Powered entirely by volunteers, with no paid staff, Weather Together is poised to exponentially expand its operations and impact over the coming years.