Happy Hookers celebrate 10 years!

By Theresa Hunt

What most people see as discarded plastic grocery bags and bad for the environment, the CC Young “Happy Hookers” see as an opportunity to repurpose and help others in need. Since 2016, a volunteer group at CC Young has transformed thousands of plastic bags into handmade 6-foot X 3 foot sleeping mats for people experiencing homelessness across North Texas. Together, the group has created and distributed more than 300 mats to local shelters and community organizations. Every week, volunteers gather around tables in The Point Auditorium piled high with grocery bags, transforming them into colorful sleeping mats.

Members originally considered calling themselves “The Bag Ladies,” but one Resident joked, “Look around — we’re happy, and we’re hookers.” The name “Happy Hookers,” suggested by longtime member Judith Banes, quickly stuck. The mats are crocheted from “plarn,” (plastic yarn) made from grocery bags. Each mat requires about 600 bags and nearly 60-70 hours of work to complete. Creating each mat is a collaborative and three-step process. Volunteers begin by flattening and cutting plastic bags into strips, then loop them together to form plarn, and crochet the plarn into durable mats. As the strips are tied together, the plarn is rolled into large yarn balls roughly the size of a softball.

Founder Brianna Brown launched the group after seeing a video online of volunteers making sleeping mats from plastic bags. Together, she and Marti Brooks started the project in part for her mother, CC Young resident Veta Boswell, who had broken ribs in a fall and needed an activity she could still enjoy with her hands. “I thought it would be a great way for people to stay busy while doing something that could help others,” Brown said. “What started with just a few of us quickly became something that brought the whole community together.” The group began with just a handful of participants and grew to more than 20 active members before the pandemic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, members Judith Banes, Gloria Little, Joan Jackson, Rozina Vlasmisky and Bettye Barnes helped ensure the project continued despite restrictions. Today, 11-15 members continue the tradition of meeting every Monday to cut bags, create plarn and crochet the mats. Participation in the group is open to CC Young Residents and Point Members, the community’s non-resident membership program.

Throughout the past decade, the mats have been distributed to Dallas-area organizations, including Austin Street Center, Cathedral of Hope, Catholic Charities, Oak Lawn United Methodist Church, Salvation Army, The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center and Wesley-Rankin Community Center, to name a few. While many mats go to shelters serving people experiencing homelessness, others help families in need through community organizations. At Wesley-Rankin Community Center, some grandparents use the mats as temporary beds for visiting grandchildren.

“The Happy Hookers represent the spirit of service and creativity that defines CC Young,” said Jennifer Griffin, vice president, Community Outreach & Engagement. “It’s remarkable and inspiring to see residents and Point members turn something as simple as a plastic bag into an act of compassion that helps people across our community.” Most mats are distributed locally, but the group has also supported communities beyond North Texas. In one project, members sent 40 mats to a children’s immigrant refugee center in El Paso.

Beyond the mats themselves, the group’s efforts have inspired others beyond the CC Young campus. Members of the Happy Hookers have taught workshops to community groups and students interested in learning how to create the mats, and Brown has shared instructional videos to help them launch similar programs in their own communities. “We never imagined this would grow the way it has,” Brown said. “It is incredible to see how something so simple can make a difference.”

The Happy Hookers gathered in usual fashion on Monday, March 30 in The Point Auditorium to hook more mats and celebrate their 10-year anniversary of service to the North Texas community. For more information, call 214-841-2831 or visit ccyoung.org.