Dartmouth's 'queen of socks' on a mission to keep homeless people's feet warm
Gareth Hampshire | CBC News | Posted: October 16, 2023 5:29 PM | Last Updated: October 17, 2023
‘Everybody knows how bad the homeless situation is'
Mary Crosby is making it her duty to help keep the many people living in tents and others going through hard times in the Halifax area warm.
Throughout the year, she spends her time collecting thousands of pairs of socks, and hand knits pairs herself in a drive that has earned her the nickname "Mary, queen of socks."
"Just think of the homeless and what they're going through," Crosby said. "Socks are worn for days and weeks on end."
The 63-year-old had to use a shelter herself earlier in her life, so she knows firsthand that new socks are a critical need. Her own experience is a big reason she is now giving back.
Her passion for the cause has resulted in more than 600 people joining her Facebook group, called Socks for Shelters.
'It warms my heart'
She said they've managed to donate over 11,000 pairs of socks in the group's first two years, and have already collected about 3,500 pairs of socks for this year's drive.
Local companies have also joined her effort, donating socks for men and women and loaning vehicles to deliver the donations to local shelters.
"Everybody knows how bad the homeless situation is," she said. "It warms my heart that I can help in that way."
The housing crisis has resulted in encampments popping up across the Halifax region. Around 1,000 people in the area are now homeless, according to an Oct. 10 estimate from the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.
Health-care workers who treat people experiencing homelessness say they are dealing with a number of medical conditions with people's feet this year.
Athlete's foot, trench foot and other ailments are exacerbated by damp weather and are made worse if people lack the means to change or wash and dry their socks.
"If my feet are cold, I'm cold," Crosby said. "We shouldn't have people out in tents, you know, it's heartbreaking."
She is now retired from her job at the local hospital, which allows her to spend a lot of her time at a knitting station in her apartment, turning balls of yarn into warm socks she donates to the drive.
"If I'm sitting, I'm knitting. That's my line! I'm not sitting watching TV without my fingers going."
It takes her about four days to knit one pair. She's already approaching her 40th pair and only has about 10 more to go to hit her goal for the season.
"I know when I'm doing that, each pair is going to keep somebody warm," she said.
She's now moving into the home stretch of her drive this season and plans to deliver the socks to Bryony House, Souls Harbour Rescue Mission and the Halifax Shelter Society on Dec. 8.
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