Origin + Organization
Here's how we got started and what we’re doing now:
Our Origin Story:
They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, and that is definitely the case for us! In December 2023, founder Jeff Bauer’s wife, Diane, was gathering items for a woman from the local “Buy Nothing” group, who was collecting cold weather gear and bringing it out to the encampments for unsheltered people in Minneapolis. Jeff initially gave what he could - a warm sleeping bag and an old Mountain Hardware puffy coat left over from an Alaska trek over a decade before. With dangerous below-zero weather quickly closing in, however, Jeff sent out his own urgent plea to his circle of family and friends for warm sleeping bags, clothes, and tents. The response was overwhelming. Bags and bags of things piled up on the front porch and quickly spilled over into the garage. Rather than hauling it all over to Julie, just to have her haul it up to the encampments, Jeff decided to start making the deliveries himself. With the help of family and friends, what started as a one-time crisis response quickly snowballed into a major undertaking which, ultimately, distributed over 250 sleeping bags, 140 tents, and 100 sleeping pads to encampments across Minneapolis and St. Paul. Jeff’s car was quickly replaced by rented U-Haul cargo vans. Gear donations even began to come in from Northern Minnesota outfitters, as well as from metro area outdoor stores. Jeff decided to start a tax-exempt nonprofit organization called Weather Together (coined by his wife) to provide expanded opportunities for others to do the same. Powered entirely by volunteers, with no paid staff, Weather Together is poised to exponentially expand its operations and impact over the coming years.
Our People:
(clockwise from top left)
Jeff Bauer: Founder
Jennifer Lien Will: Board Member
John Castillo: Board Member
Felipe Illescas: Board Member
A merry band of amazing volunteers!
Our Projects:
It takes a long time and a lot of work to gather enough tents, sleeping bags, sleeping pads and other winter gear like warm coats, wool socks, boots, hots, mittens, and hand warmers to meet the enormous need. We work year-round, soliciting gear donations, scouring Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for free or very inexpensive tents, sleeping bags, and sleeping pads, and buying up winter clearance items in the spring. We also work with camping outfitters in Northern Minnesota to collect whatever gear they are retiring at the end of each season. All the while, we are organizing, repairing, and storing gear for the cold winter months.
Once winter comes, we are in GO MODE, distributing everything we’ve gathered over the year to the many unhoused encampments as well as to solos and small groups of our unhoused neighbors. We orchestrate direct camp distributions by engaging our volunteer network and also supply some of the other autonomous groups operating in the encampments with whatever they need. We also focus heavily on GEAR RECOVERY, as when there is a camp eviction, the city authorities often destroy and/or dispose of people’s belongings. We try to get there first and recover as much gear as possible before the bulldozers come. We then securely store it until we can locate owners and return their belongings to them.
Our Partnerships:
We love our partners! As a volunteer-run, non-infrastructured organization, we rely on our organizational partners for everything from gear procurement to transportation to warehouse space, and everything in between. If you’re interested in learning about our current partners, or if your organization or business wants to become a partner (bonus points if you are able to be our official coffee and/or pastry supplier), please hit the button below.