When Is A Coat Not A Coat? When It’s A Sleeping Bag!

Now here’s a great idea – a coat that converts into a sleeping bag that could make a night on the streets a little less horrendous.

The coat is the brainchild of an American charity, The Empowerment Plan (TEP), a not-for-profit organisation based in Detroit, Michigan. Not only that – the company also helps homeless people with employment and housing support by hiring people from local homeless shelters. So, as well as giving their employees a stable income, TEP helps them to find secure housing and regain their independence.

A spokesperson for TEP said: “Since founding in 2012, we have provided employment to 30 people, assisted all our employees in permanently moving out of the shelter, distributed over 15,000 coats to homeless individuals across 39 US states and seven Canadian provinces, and impacted 75 children now growing up in stable incomes.”

According to a report in The Metro, the coat itself is water-resistant, durable, and fitted with special insulation materials donated by General Motors, which helps to make it warm and keep it dry during the cold, wet, winter months. But the real genius idea is that, when it’s not being worn, the coat can be rolled out into a sleeping bag and, when not in use for either purpose, it folds down into an over-the-shoulder bag.

The coats cost around $100 (around £80) each to make. These are then distributed to other homeless organisations at no cost to them. Although they mainly send their coats to US and Canadian organisations they do have plans to expand globally.

Brilliant!