About Us

Project Ropa was founded in 2016 by Caitlin Adler to address the challenges that homeless people face in obtaining and keeping clean clothes. Though homelessness is accompanied by many deprivations — from food, to shelter, to safety — one of its greatest indignities comes from the absence of hygiene services.

When you're homeless, it doesn't take long to look that way, and the world and your options in it shrink. Access to hygiene services is a human right yet for many people experiencing homelessness there are often significant barriers to proper hygiene. Most unhoused people literally have only the clothes on their backs.

Access to clean clothing is essential to the overall well-being of a person and can be the key to opening doors to employment and housing. We believe everyone deserves to be treated with respect. How you look affects how you feel about yourself and how others treat you.

Now, because of the health threats posed by the coronavirus, the need to overcome those challenges has become ever greater. When even one person doesn’t have access to proper hygiene, the health of the entire community is at risk.

People who are experiencing homelessness often wind up wearing dirty and wet clothes for long stretches of time, making them vulnerable to the spread of transmissible diseases, including Covid-19. 

No one should have to wear dirty clothes or clothes that are ill-fitting. It is more important than ever that our homeless neighbors have access to new and gently used donated clothing, vital hygiene products, sanitizing supplies and PPE in a safe, humane and dignified setting.

That's where we come in.