He brings blankets to Raleigh’s homeless on Christmas Eve, and he hopes you will help
For six years, Brandon Anderson has led a one-man ministry, carrying blankets into the woods and alleys where Raleigh’s homeless are huddled.
The ritual started shortly after Anderson, now 34, got out of prison for the third time. As a young father, facing a challenging new life on the outside, he pledged to put his gang troubles in the past and launch a more meaningful life.
So he headed to Moore Square on Christmas Eve with his vehicle trunk loaded with blankets, passing them out to the people he found camped in doorways or under bushes. By his own count, in his first three years, he gave out more than 1,000 blankets.
But the more he walked Raleigh’s streets, the more he found camps in the woods along South Saunders Street, or families living behind the Food Lion on Western Boulevard.
And this year, the demand for his charity has grown enough that Anderson wants to hit Goldsboro, Wilson and New Bern.
The more he keeps his vigil, the more he feels his old life slip away.
“I’ve done it every year since I’ve been out,” he said, noting the recent anniversary of his freedom. “These people cold out here. They need our help. There’s so many buildings that have a number of people staying there.”
In and out of prison
Anderson speaks candidly about the lifestyle that drew him in, calling himself a product of his gritty environment growing up.
By 13 or 14, he had joined a Bloods gang on Raleigh’s south side, and by age 20, he was serving five years for felony assault. Back on the streets, he found a turnaround to be elusive, and a pair of drug charges followed.
Around 2014, he and lifelong friend James Alston were driving through downtown, noticing the worn-down men on benches around the downtown park. They hit on the blanket idea, but both returned to prison before they could start.
Then in 2015, Alston was shot and killed on Quarry Street in the midst of transforming his life, having become an anti-gang activist and helping to organize a truce.
‘I’m proud of myself’
In his mourning, Anderson vowed to carry on in Alston’s memory.
Along with the blanket drive, he works as a youth mentor and helps convicts make the rocky transition he made himself. Now living in Angier, he is happy to present a positive face to his 14-year-old son.
“I’m proud of myself for maybe the first time in a long time,” he said. “You have to find something that makes you want to stay out.”
Six years removed from prison, Anderson still struggles with that shift. People who didn’t grow up where he grew up don’t understand the meaning of a second chance, he said.
“A second chance means everything,” he said. “Doors slammed in your face. Other people not accepting you. ... That’s how people end up back in prison.”
So this Christmas Eve, he heads back out into the cold, hoping to give a little comfort on the unforgiving streets.
How to help
To help Brandon Anderson’s blanket drive, email him at unityinthecom@gmail.com or drop supplies at The Light House at 202 N. Tarboro St. in Raleigh.