New Orleans ministry makes plastic-bag sleeping mats for unhoused people sleeping on the streets

Every completed sleeping mat made from plastic grocery bags as part of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church’s “Woven Together” ministry includes a written blessing. Photo: Courtesy of Jeanne Robertson

[Episcopal News Service] Since 2022, volunteers at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in New Orleans, Louisiana, have been turning plastic grocery bags into sleeping mats to help unhoused people avoid extreme heat and cold.

“Anything to keep them from directly lying on concrete helps protect them,” Jeanne Robertson, a parishioner at St. Paul’s who founded and leads the church’s “Woven Together” ministry, told Episcopal News Service.

The slight cushion from the mats, which are waterproof, durable, lightweight and easy to wash, provides an insulated barrier between the user and the ground. This is especially needed when New Orleans experiences extreme heat and humidity, with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees or falling below freezing.

A completed sleeping mat made from plastic grocery bags by a volunteer at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the church’s “Woven Together” ministry. Photo: Courtesy of Jeanne Robertson

Homelessness in New Orleans has been increasing at the same time government resources and services continue shrinking due to funding cuts. In 2025, homelessness increased by 7% from the previous year, and 1,563 people are known to be unhoused.

Robertson founded “Woven Together” after reading about a similar Episcopal ministry.

“When I read more about how easy it is to make a mat, I thought my church could totally do this,” Robertson said. “Outside of church, people can make ‘plarn’ [plastic yarn] and mats at home while watching TV. You don’t need a loom to make them.”

St. Paul’s accepts plastic bag donations throughout the year for “Woven Together.” Volunteers meet on the first and third Sunday of every month after worship to work with the bags. Some people will fold, cut and tie plastic grocery bags together to make “plarn,” a portmanteau of “plastic” and “yarn,” while others will use the “plarn” to weave, knit or crochet the mats.

After the “plarn” is prepared and ready for use, it takes about 30 hours to make a sleeping mat. Gillian Eggleston, a parishioner at St. Paul’s, knits on average one mat every four weeks, or about a dozen a year, using jumbo-sized knitting needles.

“What I like about the process is I can spend quiet time at home preparing the ‘plarn’ and knitting. I actually find it quite relaxing,” Eggleston told ENS.

St. Paul’s donates the finished mats to Covenant House, a homeless shelter in New Orleans, which then distributes them to people who visit the shelter.

Each completed sleeping mat is finished with a tag that says, “You and I were created in the image of God. This mat was made for you, because you matter. If you matter to us ordinary broken people, imagine how much more you matter to your Creator. Please pray for us as we pray for you. Blessings, Mat makers.”

“That’s our message to the unhoused people who receive these mats, because we know they matter,” Robertson said. “They matter to us, and they matter to God.”

While the “Woven Together” ministry’s primary purpose is to serve unhoused people, it also has an ecological benefit. It takes about 600-800 plastic bags to make one 3-by-6-foot sleeping mat, according to Robertson. That’s hundreds of plastic bags per mat kept out of landfills and waterways.

Since the 1950s, more than 9 billion metric tons of plastic, which isn’t biodegradable, have been produced worldwide; about 9% of it gets recycled.

Twice a month, “Woven Together” ministry volunteers gather at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in New Orleans, Louisiana, to fold, cut and tie plastic grocery bags together to make “plarn” to weave, knit or crochet sleeping mats for unhoused people. Photo: Courtesy of Jeanne Robertson

The exponential increase in plastic production and use over more than half a century has contributed to a worldwide pollution crisis, killing millions of animals every year and emitting greenhouse gases that raise the global temperature above safe and livable levels for Earth’s atmosphere.

“Since we started ‘Woven Together,’ we’ve found that a lot of grocery stores don’t really know what to do with the bags that people bring back for recycling,” Robertson said. “I think some of them do get recycled, but most of them don’t, because they wind up in containers that are filled with trash.”

St. Paul’s promotes its “Woven Together” ministry and recruits volunteers throughout the community. Not all volunteers are Episcopalians, and some participate because “it’s a great cause,” Robertson said. A retirement facility for veterans and a nearby school also have collected bags for St. Paul’s. Last month, during the Diocese of Louisiana’s day of service on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, volunteers wove mats for St. Paul’s.

“I’ve learned a lot about fellowship through this ministry,” Eggleston said. “I’ve yet to interact with any recipients of the mats, but I’ve heard that their feedback has been very positive.”

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.