Threads of Compassion Oklahoma City began in January of 2010. It started with one person seeing a link to Threads of Compassion in Chicago on a list of charity crochet projects. The description of the project was so touching that she decided to see if it was happening in Edmond/Oklahoma City. She contacted the Rape Crisis Center at the Oklahoma City YWCA to see if they had heard of it, and found that there was not an OKC chapter of Threads but the center was open to the idea.
From that beginning Threads of Compassion OKC was born.
It’s a pretty simple idea; anyone whose life has been affected by sexual violence may help. While some of our contributors are survivors themselves, many are friends or family of survivors. We knit and crochet scarves that are given to survivors of assault when they go to the hospital for treatment. While receiving a scarf is certainly not a magic solution, our hope is that it is a piece of comfort during a terrible time. Knowing that someone else has been through a similar experience can provide hope that the new survivor will come out on the other side of this tragedy. Making a scarf can be a step of healing for some — a way to reach out and offer comfort.
There is a place for everyone to serve through this project. Already in a year we’ve had a big variety of people who have made scarves: college students, retired people, survivors, friends of survivors, knitters, crocheters — some who have been knitting and crocheting for years and some who have just learned.
There truly is a place for anyone here.
Any color or patter of scarf is welcome. Our one request is that they be at least 5” wide and 65” long.
We meet for work days. This is a chance to work with other people, or to learn to knit or crochet if you’d like to learn or improve your skills. As they’re scheduled we announce them on our Facebook page and in a blog post. It’s a very casual meeting with a come-and-go kind of schedule.
To stay up-to-date on the Oklahoma City chapter, please become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/threadsokc.