WalkUpSocks
Imagine a world where people experiencing homelessness can change their socks every day. - Chief Joy Officer Thomas age 5.
Our mission is to create a vending machine solution - meeting people experiencing homelessness where they are - to deliver socks… and a smile.
“Dad, I’m starting a company giving homeless people socks” It all started November 8th 2019 when Thomas age (5.5) learned that people experiencing homelessness don’t have clean socks to wear.
- Founded in 2019 by a five year old
- 10 partnerships formed
- 356+ pairs of socks acquired
- $1735+ raised
We’ve just started this mission in November of 2019 but we think our team is onto something. Imagine a world where people experiencing homelessness can change their socks everyday!
Deep Dive Into Our Mission
We are challenging the current sock distribution model. We seek answers to the following questions:
What if people experiencing homelessness could change their socks everyday?
How can people experiencing homelessness get a fresh pack of socks every week?
How can we bring joy to homeless people?
How can we educate our communities about this important need?
Can we create a sock ecosystem that launders socks and redistributes them to those in need?
Can our solution help people experiencing homelessness receive other foot related health services?
Partners
Thomas doesn’t have a sense of real world barriers to entry, and so with his “we can do anything” attitude he’s captivated the attention of major partners and they are tearing down the real barriers faster than we could have ever imagined. The power of networking is on full display here! We are looking for the following partners: vending machines, electronics supplier, IoT, metal fabrication, commercial laundry, financial backers.
Thomas’ vision is quickly taking shape thanks to all of the partners who are donating time, money, and resources to help him. Thomas doesn’t have a sense of real world barriers to entry, and so with his “we can do anything” attitude he’s captivated the attention of major partners and they are tearing down the real barriers faster than we could have ever imagined. The power of networking is on full display here!
We are continually in search of more partners. Please reach out to us via socks@WalkUpSocks.com if you are interested in partnering with us.
- Mask suppliers cloth or disposable
- Vending machine (RPD Corp Model RCS20MDB)
- Electronics supplier
- Metal fabrication
- Commercial laundry
- Financial backers
Pre COVID we were gaining traction quickly. In the winter of 2020 we deployed our first socks through a sock drive with our partners at the Winona State University’s Children’s Center. In the spring of 2020 we acquired a vending machine, and in the summer of 2020 we started fabricating the sock return unit.
Current Partners
Winona State University Children's Center
Supporting us with space and resources to create joyful artwork that is packed with clean socks as well as providing a network to connect with the community to provide education about homelessness.
FILLING THE GAPS GROUP
Dwayne Voegeli - Connecting us with the organizations in Winona, MN providing care to homeless people.
WINONA STATE MATHEMATICS & STATISTICS DEPARTMENT
Silas Bergen, Chris Malone - Providing data analysis and statistics around homelessness.
BRIDGES HEALTH WINONA
Jen Timm and Her Amazing Staff - Pilot and research partner helping us explore how our solution might help their organization reach more homeless people with care they need.
STARTUP WINONA STATE
Will Kitchen - Providing funding, mentor-ship, and network connections to both industry and community to further our mission.
Progress and Press
We post news worthy updates here.
COVID-19 Update
We are still working hard here at WalkUpSocks. We’re safe at home but still continuing our mission. We’re expanding our sock mission to provide face masks to people experiencing homelessness. We are seeking face mask donations or low-cost masks that we can include in sock packs. Please reach out to us if you can help us source masks.
- Ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
- Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit.
- Ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate trideta storacalaperda mastiro dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum
Giving Time and Year-End Report
DECEMBER 23RD, 2020
With cheer and a mask, Thomas was proud to deliver these sock packs to the Catholic Charities House in Winona. The packs contain an extra warm pair of wool socks, a pair of Bombas socks, and a small piece of artwork drawn by Thomas and his younger brother. We hope these sock packs bring joy to those who receive them.
2020 started off with a bang. In January and February, we saw key partners starting to make moves to help us on our mission. We began working with nurses to gather data and began working on hardware and software development for the vending solution. At the beginning of March, Thomas braved a presentation in front of an eager crowd of people at the Garage Cowork Space. He shared his mission and gathered feedback. And then, just a week later the state shut down due to Covid. Covid has greatly impacted Thomas’s mission. Our primary partners have closed their service sites and our suppliers have struggled to deliver on some key supplies we hoped to hand out. Like many organizations, we are struggling with finding a balance of health safety and outreach. Despite the challenges, Thomas takes pride in the little things we are able to do. We carry packs of socks in our car and hand them out when we see people in need. We may not be achieving our broader mission at the moment, but we are still sharing and caring for those in need. Stay safe and God bless.
It’s Fabrication Time
JUNE 19TH 2020
With a vending machine in hand, it’s time to start working on fabricating a sock return unit. Remember, our mission is to provide laundered socks to people experiencing homelessness. This means we need to collect soiled socks in order to get them to a laundry partner. The half height vending machine we purchased will sit on top of the return unit we are about to build. Thomas is enjoying setting up a fabrication corner in dad’s shop! We’d love to partner with a fabrication shop to build our production units. To save money we’ll do the prototyping. If you are a fabrication shop and would like to donate time and materials to our cause we’d gladly work with you to build our prototype. We expect to start drafting our designs in CAD soon.
We Finally Have a Vending Machine!
MAY 15TH 2020
The search for a vending machine has been a 5 month hunt that at times seemed impossible. We were faced with several challenges. How are we going to move a 600+ pound machine? Where will we keep it during the development phase, and how will we get it to our pilot location once it’s ready? We found the solution was a half height machine called an RPD Corp RCS20MDB. With just a half inch to spare it fit in the back of our Toyota Rav 4! The half height footprint will give us the opportunity to fabricate a lower sock return unit. The machine is equipped with the modern MDB interface that we need in order to override the bill exchanger with the hardware our engineer Sully is working on. We expect to load up to 96 packs of socks into our machine once converted to the largest coils.
It’s Time to Pivot
MAY 5TH 2020
The time is 8:15 pm and as Thomas lays down to go to sleep he has a profound realization. He says, “Dad, with the whole Corona virus thing, my business isn’t really able to grow. I can’t go out and meet with my partners to keep working on things. So that means I can’t help people. I think I need to find a different way to help.” …Wow, yes that came from the mind of a now 6 year-old Thomas. We spent the next 20 minutes thinking about how we can help. What do people experiencing homelessness really need right this minute? Thomas came up with three things; Face masks, socks, God. Fast forward a few days and we’ve partnered with a talented local home sewer to source 25 masks at a cost of $5 each. We already have fantastic Bombas socks to include in our new bundle, and we’re on the trail to finding small pocket bibles. Thomas is on what we can only describe as a God given mission to bring people joy, socks, and salvation. We are forever proud of his humble approach to life. In the next few weeks we will get an impulse heat sealer and poly bags so that we can seal the bundles and prepare them for distribution in a safe way.
Thomas Presents at 1 Million Cups in Winona
MARCH 11TH 2020
Thomas and his dad got a chance to pitch their companies WalkUpSocks and GoAdvntr Inc. back to back at the networking event called 1 Million Cups. The presentation highlighted WalkUpSocks journey from idea to today and featured question and answer time. The community was engaging with great questions and enthusiasm and afterwards Thomas even sold some of his stickers which help raise awareness and fund his project. We thank the Winona Community for their ongoing support! Please consider purchasing a sticker to show your support for WalkUpSocks. Use the donate button above to show your support. Thank you!
Bridges Health Winona Helps Gather Feedback
FEBRUARY 20TH 2020
The great team at Bridges Health got to meet their 5 year old partner to learn more about his mission. Thomas showed off the work he and his dad have been doing around spreading the word and gathering feedback from people experiencing homelessness. Each pair of socks donated gets wrapped in a band sharing Thomas’ idea and asks a few simple questions that will help gauge feedback on the idea. Friends of Thomas color fun pictures in the box on the right side of the band. The idea is to give people experiencing homelessness something to make them smile, something to bring them joy. The Bridges Health Winona team is going to further develop a simple survey and will distribute socks to those who take a few minutes to answer questions about the project. “Sometimes technology isn’t the solution. We want to be sure we’re developing something that our end users will actually use” said Brian during the meeting.
Vending Machine Controller Development Kicks Off
JANUARY 2020
Embedded System Engineer Sully Bada received the first hardware components he needs to start developing a specialized vending machine controller. The plan is to replace the bill and coin collectors with a mag stripe card reader and internet cloud connected system that grants authorized users access to the socks for free.
WSU Children’s Center Raised 106 Pairs of Socks in December
JANUARY 2020
The spirit of giving was felt in a big way at the Children’s Center in December. In total families donated 106 pairs of socks! We are using those socks as an outreach tool to gather feedback about our vending idea from homeless people. Many feet were warmed over Christmas with several distributions going to the Public Library, The Warming Center, and Grace Place. We are grateful to the Children’s Center and all of the families that contributed to this great sock drive. We hope to make it an annual thing.
Kid on a mission
DECEMBER 22ND 2019
Winona Daily News took notice of Thomas and his mission. We had no idea he’d dominate Sunday’s paper! We were just hoping to make page 2 or 3 with a short blurb. The outpouring of support on social media has been incredible. Thank you to everyone that supports his mission! Read a digital copy of the story here. Thank you Josh DeLaRosa for writing this great story! https://t.co/orkHQsin7I
“WalkUpSocks: A Winona 5-year old's mission to providing the homeless with clean socks”
DECEMBER 21ST 2019
Winona Daily News Runs a Story Featuring Thomas! Reporter Josh DeLaRosa reached out to learn more about WalkUpSocks and Thomas’ mission after hearing about it from coworker Bryan Ufheil who overheard Thomas’ story. Read the great story here! Thank you Winona Daily News for helping spread the news of our mission.
Families at the Winona State University Children’s Center Raise 81 Pairs of Socks and Counting
DECEMBER 19TH 2019
The generous families whose kids attend the Children’s Center have generously supported Thomas’ WalkUpSocks by donating 81 pairs of socks to date! Director Karen Sullivan, and teacher Tony Reisdorfer are the driving force behind the support through a giving tree in the lobby of the center. Starting tomorrow socks will be delivered to local charities. Way to show the love WSU families!
Winona State University Grants Thomas $1200 To Build WalkUpSocks Idea
DECEMBER 18TH 2019
Thomas and his team of partners received a grant through StartUp Winona State for help with the start of his business! The grant has two goals, develop Thomas’ vending machine solution, and work with partner Bridges Health Winona to learn more about the clientele the machine will service, and what role the vending machine can play in helping them reach more people. We are grateful to Will Kitchen and the administration at Winona State University for stepping up to help a young entrepreneur chase his dreams of helping the homeless.
Winona Economic Summit Features Thomas’ Story
DECEMBER 10TH 2019
On December 10th, over 70 business, community, and university leaders along with entrepreneurs came together for the first time to discuss building an ecosystem in Southern MN to support entrepreneurs. A power house of talent provided the audience with an interactive panel discussion about the challenges entrepreneurs face starting businesses in southern MN. The panel was made up MN House representative Gene Pelowski, Neela Mollgaard the Executive Director of Launch Minnesota, President and CEO of SMIF Tim Penny, and Executive Director of Red Wing Ignite Adam Gettings. The SMIF Foundation, and Red Wing Ignite have done a lot to help this region grow. The goal of the summit was to highlight these efforts and energize the leaders in the room to band together to build something even bigger. We thank Miller Ingenuity for hosting the event in their beautiful space and thank organizers Will Kitchen from StartUp Winona State, and Christine Beech of the Kabara Institute for the outstanding job they did of bringing the community together. Thomas’ business was one of three featured in the handout materials!
Winona State University Children’s Center Kicks Off a Sock Drive!
DECEMBER 6TH 2019
Inspired by their partnership with Thomas, the WSU Children’s Center kicked off a sock drive today to gather donation socks for those in need. Families are encourage to take a sock from the tree in pledge of bringing socks in return. Children are encouraged to color the sock and return it with the socks so that it can be included with their donation socks. Thomas’ mission goes beyond providing socks to the homeless. He also wants the artwork to bring them joy, and he hopes his cause educates people both big and small about the issues the homeless face on a daily basis. Socks will be wrapped in a message about Thomas’ new mission as well as a simple two question survey to help gather feedback from our core target market about our idea of providing fresh laundered socks to them.
"
NOVEMBER 17TH 2019
Please tell Thomas that EVERY employee here (we're just over 100 or so now) is rooting for him and EXTREMELY impressed that he's using his clearly big brain to combine innovation with giving back. That's so rare and we love it. @BOMBAS TWITTER DM
Winona State University Children’s Center Kicks Off a Sock Drive!
NOVEMBER 13TH 2019
Hey Brian! We're blown away by the creativity on display here… we'd love to send your son some of our Donation socks so he (with proper supervision, of course) can hand them out. Please DM us. TWITTER @BOMBAS / https://twitter.com/BOMBAS/status/1194668850291363841