Cherry Willow Apparel

On April 22nd 2024 the Supreme Court of the United States heard the case City of Grants Pass v. Johnson. A decision will be made by June 30th.  What is this case?  This case is essentially going to decide if cities will have the right to criminalize homelessness. Currently the rights of homeless citizens are protected under the Eight Amendment based on the ruling of a three judge panel of the US court of appeals in 2018.  In the 2018 decision Martin V. the City of Boise the panel of judges ruled:  “the Eighth Amendment prohibits the imposition of criminal penalties for sitting, sleeping, or lying outside on public property for homeless individuals who cannot obtain shelter.” The city of Grants Pass Located in southern Oregon about 2 hours south of Eugene & 5 hours north of Sacramento, has a population of approximately 39,0000 people including approximately 600 homeless people. The city is like many other cities in this country in that it does not have enough shelter for all of the

  Custom Donations We are looking to collect certain items to distribute to homeless people in addition to what the shelters are able to provide. Our goal is to be able to facilitate a donation with every purchase made so we can help to redistribute the excess that is already out there and not add to the waste that is so often generated by corporations in this country. The number 1 need of most homeless people is clean clothes. When living on the street it can be difficult to keep up with hygiene with the lack of access to showers and laundry facilities. Any items donated will be distributed through local shelters and other outreach programs. Any blank apparel items that we are able to print on will be printed with the Cherry Willow Apparel logo and given to shelters so that homeless people may wear it and know that there is a brand working on their behalf and to help them in whatever way we can.  In particular with clean clothes, socks and underwear are of huge importance. Used sock

The Way Home     When it comes to dealing with homelessness in the United States I would argue that we approach it in the wrong way, just like we do with many other problems in this country. That is because in this country we value money more than anything else. If the solution to the problem doesn't involve someone getting filthy rich it more than likely won't be seen as a priority. The traditional method for addressing homelessness is to invest in creating shelters and beds for those impacted. Once people are in the shelters we then seek to provide individuals with resources to improve their standing in society with the goal of hopefully being able to get a job so they can afford to rent a place to live. This may sound like a good idea in theory, but in reality, the shelter is not an ideal place to work on yourself. There is virtually no privacy as you are constantly surrounded by people, most of whom have not chosen to be there. Tensions can get high, sometimes things get ph

                                            How did we get here? Have you ever asked yourself “how did I get here” I know I certainly have at times. Whether it was something as simple as zoning out while going somewhere or more of an in depth question about how I ended up putting myself in a bad circumstance, this is a question that has come up in my life. When I look at the question “how did we get to the current homeless crisis in the United States?” Through talking with people that have worked in the shelters I came up with a culmination of multiple factors. In my opinion the primary driver is a capitalistic society that only values people for their ability to generate a profit for someone else. In a capitalistic society in order to be employable you have to serve a role that generates more value than what your employer is willing to pay you. That is how the employer makes money. This creates a circumstance where many employers seek to outsource work to countries with cheaper l