Sheltersuits for Those Experiencing Homelessness

Dutch designer, Bas Timmer created a wind and waterproof jacket, called the Sheltersuit, after meeting a homeless woman in Cape Town, South Africa in 2014. Since then, Timmer’s Sheltersuit Foundation has distributed 12,000 such suits free of charge to people experiencing homelessness in the Netherlands; Greece; Bosnia-Herzegovina; Scotland; and London, as well as New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and a few other U.S. cities.

I want to protect every homeless person in the world, in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. —Bas Timmer, Designer of Sheltersuit

The Sheltersuit comes with a sleeping bag that attaches to the lower edge of the jacket, providing full-body protection against the elements. Made of high-quality, donated tent fabric, the exterior covers an inside lined with old sleeping bags. Since the pandemic has made the need for shelter space more acute, some shelter facilities have requested the suits to give out to those they cannot accommodate due to social distancing protocols.

Currently, operating out of two manufacturing facilities in the Netherlands and Cape Town, the foundation is exploring partnerships in the U.S., U.K., and Australia.

Read more about this modern innovation.