MIAMI-DADE PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM’S COUNTRY WALK BRANCH LIBRARY “HELPING HANDS: UPCYCLING WITH DUAL PURPOSES”

About the Program

Category: Libraries (Best in Category)

Year: 2018

Helping Hands is an arts and crafts program that meets the needs of two Miami-Dade County communities — older adults and homeless populations — at the same time. Older adult participants socialize at a Miami-Dade Public Library System (MDPLS) library while they make sleeping mats from upcycled plastic bags. The mats are then given to nearby homeless populations. This program has multiple goals: to upcycle plastic to keep it from landfills; to mitigate the loneliness often experienced by seniors; and to teach a population that they are valued through interactions with an easy, yet meaningful, craft. The simple activity helps to link neighborhoods that typically have little connection and lift the spirits of an underserved population through arts and crafts. MDPLS provided the facility and created the program, collected and organized the materials, mentored the newcomers and connected stakeholders.