To make this year a little warmer, a little easier

Potentially 70 low-income people are keeping warm this extremely cold winter, thanks to the efforts of one Bolingbrook resident.

Karolina Strack is a consultant for Gateway Foundation, a nonprofit that provides substance abuse disorder treatment. As a consultant, Strack seeks funding opportunities, including writing grants.

During a conference call a few months ago, Strack learned that 50 low-income residents of a treatment program in Chicago didn’t have winter coats. Residents at this location may be recently released from the justice system or simply don’t have many possessions or even stable housing, she said.

So Strack looked into programs to provide the coats. She found plenty of good programs but none that could assist in time.

“The application process is lengthy, and this was the beginning to mid-October,” Strack said. “Some of them take months to get an application in and approved and to get the coats. By the time that went through the official channels, winter would be long gone in Chicago. So I decided to try and do it.”

Strack started by asking family, friends and contacts on social media to donate their gently used coats. But then a friend from California didn’t have any coats and offered to send one from Amazon. A friend in England offered to do the same.

So Strack set up an Amazon wish list for coats – and more.

“I figured if someone needed a coat, they’re going to need gloves, hats and scarves, too,” Strack said.

Then a friend from high school messaged her and said, “Hey, my brother died from an overdose a few years ago and I want to help,” Strack said.

“So then he sent me money,” Strack said. “So then I added a third element to the drive.”

Strack started raising money on Facebook for people who wanted to donate that way. Strack then went out and purchased more coats with the money.

“I know social media gets a bad rap,” Strack said. “But there’s no way I could have done this without social media and leveraging those connections and having those platforms to share with people.”

In all, Strack wound up donating 70 coats to residents at a Gateway Foundation treatment home in Chicago. She would definitely do it again.

“Last year was tough on everyone in so many ways,” Strack said. “I think it helped restore my faith in people and the concept of community and what we can all accomplish when we work together.”

Strack said the success of her coat drive shows people can “pay it forward” in small ways” to achieve significant results.

She encouraged people to reach out to anyone they know with addiction or mental health issues. The pandemic has been especially hard on those people, she said.

“The overdose crisis and overdose deaths are through the roof,” she said. “So many people suffer in silence and suffer in secret. I would urge people to be kinder to each other and check on their friends, check on their family members. Let them know if they need help; there are so many resources…a simple phone call goes a long way.”

Gateway’s 24-hour hotline is 877-505-HOPE or 877-505-4673. Call Gateway Joliet at 877-352-9992. For more information, visit gatewayfoundation.org.