It All Started When My Mom Became Homeless

In 2013, Sackcloth & Ashes founder Bob Dalton watched his mother lose her home and become dependent on substances after a string of personal losses. She eventually moved across the country and ended up living on the streets. Bob had grown up watching her work herself to exhaustion, waitressing shifts and paying bills spread across her bed just to raise him and his sister, so he knew her situation had nothing to do with a lack of work ethic. It was something deeper: a battle with addiction and identity that could happen to anyone.

Determined to do something, Bob started calling local homeless shelters to ask what they needed most. The answer, again and again, was blankets. So he decided to start a blanket company: for every blanket sold, one would be donated to a shelter. That decision became Sackcloth & Ashes.

A Story of Hope and Redemption

For four years, while bootstrapping the business, Bob tried everything he could to help his mother, including several attempts at rehab that did not stick. Then in 2018, during a blanket donation event at a women's shelter in Portland, the staff asked if his mom would consider their 12-month recovery program. She agreed to go. She got sober, completed the program, stayed on for another year to help others, and was eventually hired onto the staff. Today, she is healthy, working, and living life fully. Bob has shared that his mother's recovery is the true heart behind the company: proof that even in the darkest moments, something beautiful can begin.

700+ Shelters and Counting

What began as one man calling shelters has grown into a mission that has supported more than 700 shelters across the country. Every blanket purchased is matched with a donation based on ZIP code, so the giving stays rooted in the buyer's own community. Sackcloth & Ashes also designs its shipping boxes to be repurposed, so customers can fill them with essential items and extend their impact even further.

Made Sustainably

Sackcloth & Ashes blankets are made in Italy and finished in the USA using 100% recycled materials. The process starts with donated clothing and factory scraps, which are shredded into fiber through a water free, chemical free carding process. Those fibers are blended by color, spun into yarn without ever using dye, and woven on a Jacquard loom. Each blanket is brushed and shaved for softness, finished with hand-twisted tassels, and quality checked before it ships.