When a college professor asked students to come up with a product that would meet an actual need instead of just contributing to an existing fad, Veronika Scott had an idea. After spending months interviewing members of the homeless community in her hometown in Colorado to understand the challenges of daily life on the street, she created the sleeping bag coat. Using fabric donated by several companies and initially funded by local donations, her coats became a sensation.
Today, the now-23-year-old’s non-profit company called The Empowerment Plan employs 10 formerly homeless women to make coats that are sent (for free) to homeless shelters around the country. One unexpected twist in her company’s sudden rise to success: The coats were evidently a hit at Aspen’s fashion week. Scott is now working on a for-profit sister company that will sell the coats to help fund the non-profit efforts in the future …
