Home-Grown Hope in New Albany's Midtown

NEW ALBANY, Ind. - Feb. 23, 2015 - PRLog -- Clean Socks Hope is a unique resource in the Midtown neighborhood of New Albany, Indiana. It is a team of collaborative ministries that service the poor in a focused, methodical and groundbreaking partnerships. Clean Socks Hope works to equip those they serve with skills that will create self-worth and self-sufficiency and change the lives of men, women and children for generations to come.

On February 27, 2015 Clean Socks Hope is participating in Brackets for Good 2015 Louisville tournament Presented by Bingham Greenbaum Doll. Learn more about the BFG organization and goals, as well as the tournament by watching this short video http://vimeo.com/74859660.



Clean Socks Hope began in 2007 as a one-time event that raised $200 and collected 511 pairs of socks for the homeless.  The organizers were inspired by the charitable work of the late father of the Executive Director. Every year he would collect toys, clothes and textiles and then at Christmas would drive into the heart of Appalachia donating his year’s collection to various churches, schools and social service organizations.

Since the initial event, the organization has grown and has been offering a Christmas Store for three years and a Food Cooperative for two years to the Midtown community. They run these programs with one distinctive difference from more traditional charitable organizations: the receiving families participate in the operations, earning the benefits they receive. Clean Socks Hope believes in revamping the charitable framework to include those that will benefit from it and therefore offer hope and dignity alongside the material goods.

Currently, Clean Socks Hope is raising funds and accepting volunteers for the Midtown Spirit Outdoor Classroom and Life Lab program that will include a classroom and greenhouse that Midtown residents can use to extend their food budgets by growing their own food. While this concept is not new, this will be the first garden co-op in the area for and run by working families and their children. It will instill community stewardship of local green space and raise ecological awareness through education, outreach, training and demonstration projects.

Special thanks to Jen Marcuson for her article.