Keeping residents of supportive housing warm by making quilts before winter is what the Royal City Quilters Guild set out to do.
The guild is quilting full steam ahead and is set to surpass its goal of 80 quilts.
The word got out and the guild received quilts for the project from people from places like Oakville, Sudbury and Washington state.
“So it's not just that the local Guelph quilters who are helping with this, it's really touched people's hearts. And, frankly, so many of us have made quilts for everyone in our family. We're just happy to make quilts for somebody who doesn't have one,” said Becky Fiedler, president of Royal City Quilters’ Guild.
The quilts will go to new residents of three supportive housing projects; Grace Gardens, Bellevue Supportive Housing and Kindle Communities Apartments. The Home for Good Campaign is used to fundraise for these projects.
Grace Gardens opened and residents chose their quilts last week.
“It is part of our mandate to support community needs. And this seems like an obvious need that we can help with,” said Fiedler.
The guild got in touch with Glenna Banda, executive director of United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin so she could ask what sizes of quilts are needed for the supportive housing projects.
United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin heads the Home for Good Campaign.
“Permanent supportive housing is so much more than a roof over someone’s head,” said Banda in a press release.
“When people have settled in with warm quilts, a place to keep items that matter to them, and they feel a sense of community with wrap-around supports, is when it will truly feel like home,” she said.
Some of the quilters know relatives they can imagine being in a difficult situation with no housing and this is why they are happy to help, said Fiedler.
The Guelph Lions Club gave funding towards the quilt project which gave the guild the money to purchase backing and batting fabric for the quilts.
The guild shared a photo album with the Lions Club so it could see the progress of the quilts.
“We think of quilts as art and so we wanted them to have a piece of art. It's practical art, it's functional art, but we wanted them to have a piece of art that was theirs, and theirs alone. We delivered unique quilts to each facility. There aren't two that are the same,” said Fiedler.
