'The Bag Lady' helps keep homeless warm

Dec. 5—Barbara St. John calls herself "The Bag Lady." She has a lighthearted approach to a serious undertaking: providing jackets that turn into sleeping bags for Kalispell's homeless population.

"My mission is that nobody freezes to death out in the cold," she said.

Since 2017, she's outfitted about 150 people with specially made coats. They're high-quality and functional, made from material donated by Carhartt and Patagonia. The insulation is provided by General Motors, and they're made from recycled plastic bottles.

They can fit a person 6-foot-4 or smaller, and when they aren't being worn, they fold up into a lightweight fanny pack. The bottom portion, which doubles as a sleeping bag, serves as a space to store belongings.

It's a multipurpose design that delighted St. John when she first discovered the product.

"I just got nuts about it," St. John recalled, thinking back to the first time she learned about the jackets.

That was around 2012, when she was living in a small farming community near Detroit, Michigan.

A design student there, Veronika Scott, created the jackets in 2011. In 2012, Scott launched The Empowerment Plan, a nonprofit that employs homeless individuals in making the jackets.

The operation started small, and when St. John moved to Montana, the Empowerment Plan didn't have the capacity to send jackets out-of-state.

But as the years passed and St. John experienced the brutality of wintertime in the Flathead, she felt compelled to try again.

She was particularly moved one day in 2017 when she drove by a bus stop near her Kalispell home and saw people standing out in temperatures 15 degrees below zero.

"It just broke my heart," St. John said, tearing up at the memory.

She reached out again to the Empowerment Plan and learned that the organization had expanded to all but six states. Montana was one of the few unrepresented.

St. John ordered her first set of jackets, fundraising at her church and around town to cover the costs. These days, one bag is about $125.

With her first bags in hand, St. John headed out to local parks and introduced homeless people there to the concept. She's been giving them out to people in need ever since.

"It flew big time," St. John said.

Once you know how to spot the bags, St. John said, you start to notice them all over town.

When she gives them out, she stresses the need to take care of each bag and hang onto it, and she said most recipients are responsible with theirs.

Occasionally, someone will return a bag to St. John because their situation has improved and they no longer need a way to stay warm while sleeping outside. When that happens, St. John said she feels blessed to have the opportunity to help a person turn their life around.

Right now, The Bag Lady is a one-woman operation, but St. John hopes to expand the project. She has one woman lined up to join her soon, and she has her sights set on going beyond Kalispell to serve the rest of the valley.

"I'm hoping to really ramp it up," said St. John. "There are a lot of cold people."

Donations can be sent to Barbara St. John at 34 E. Northview Loop, Kalispell, MT 59901. Checks should include "donation to coat/sleeping bag" or "The Empowerment Plan" in the memo line.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at 406-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.