Purposeful Traveler Oliver: Turning Billboards into Sleeping Bags

Recently, we introduced you to Oliver Brain in a video from Cape Town Travel Massive. Oliver is transforming billboards into survival sleeping bags for the homeless. This month in our Purposeful Traveler series we caught up with Oliver for a more in-depth look at his project, Street Sleeper.

What is Street Sleeper?

Street Sleeper is a social business that uses innovation to tackle challenges facing homeless men and women. We upcycle PVC advertising billboards, destined for landfill, into survival sleeping bags that provide protection against the elements at night and double as backpacks during the day. Transforming the negative impact of waste into immediate relief of those living on the street, bundled up in the long-term vision of enabling positive change in our community.

What is a Street Sleeper Bag?

A sturdy and sustainably-sourced urban survival sleeping bag that can be used for ages, stand up to the elements and double as a daytime pack during the day to carry belongings.

As a back pack it has a storage capacity of 40L and is totally waterproof. Untying it takes a second and then it folds out into your survival bag. It is wide enough so that you can sleep with multiple layers of clothing or blankets, deep enough so that you can prevent your valuables from getting stolen when you sleep – a problem homeless people face every night. It weighs just under 2Kg and the head piece can be used as a pillow slip or storm shield to put your head inside.

What inspired you to start this initiative?

I was constantly finding myself in a situation that I am sure many people have been in. I wanted to help the homeless, but didn’t have an easy enough platform to do it from. So I decided to create this platform for people and wanted to focus on one element: providing temporary shelter for those living on the street.

How do Street Sleeper Bags help homeless people?

In the short term, they provide a form of shelter from the elements. However, in the longer term, I see Street Sleeper as a platform to reinforce a sense of community in our city. It can help to facilitate a dialogue on the issue of homelessness, bridge the social barriers that society has put in place where the homeless have almost zero access to opportunity purely because of where they sleep as well as lower the fear, anxiety, and unfamiliarity levels that most people experience when interacting with someone that society sees as being so different.

How many people has Street Sleeper helped so far?

We have distributed around 100 bags since beginning this winter and we employ a sewing machinist full time as well as have several volunteers working with us. A few people we have helped and who stand out to me are Patrick Williams, Cecil Mafeking, and Sam Langa.

You are empowering homeless people to change a situation through their own actions. How?

One of the concepts that I am grappling with at the moment is distribution of the Street Sleeper bags. We have piloted a couple of different ways. 1) Free hand out 2) Asking the homeless to pay a small fee 3) Asking the homeless to do something in return for a bag. We have found that the last method (implemented through a form of a reward scheme) creates a sense of value and inclusion for the person receiving the bag. In a very basic sense, we are providing opportunities for people to better their own situation, which they have fed back to us is empowering.

What makes your non-profit different from others?

We are trying to tackle an issue that can at times make people a bit uncomfortable from an innovative and dynamic stand point – we want to present ways to address the issue of homelessness in a positive and proactive manner. Rather than rely on funding from large bodies, we collaborate throughout the community and provide a platform for individuals to easily and directly fund the making of a bag themselves.

Where do your donations go? 

We believe that transparency is key to our operations as this creates a sense of trust in what we are doing. Only a small portion of funds is used for admin and distribution. A larger portion of donations is used in sewing.

What do you think is the biggest challenge in this world?

Creating a society where everyone has the opportunity to feel valued.

Are there any misconceptions about homelessness you want to clear up?

Yes. That they are normal people. Since starting Street Sleeper, I have had the opportunity to talk with many people who live on the street – they are just as intelligent, engaged and passionate as the next person. They have helped me to laugh, to learn and see my city and community from a different perspective.

What is your most memorable, meaningful moment so far? 

Doing a litter clean up with a mix of Street Sleeper volunteers and homeless people for Mandela Day this year. In total we had around 40 people involved, picked up 50 bags of rubbish, gave all of the homeless people a Street Sleeper bag and afterwards, all gathered for delicious soup and to spend some time getting to know each other.

What do you hope your initiative will accomplish in the next 5 years?

Street Sleeper is all about collaboration. I would love to see our network spread to other cities around the world. Every city has excess billboards and every city has homeless people.

How can someone help or get involved? 

At the moment we only operate in Cape Town, South Africa, so if you live there you are welcome to join us on one of our distribution days (details will be posted on our Facebook page). Alternatively you can #giftabag to a homeless person for R150 (~$15) on our website here. We will then make up the bag and give it to a homeless person in Cape Town.

Purposeful Traveler is a series that profiles inspiring people or projects making a purposeful change to the way we travel. If you know of a Purposeful Traveler who should be featured, email us