BWB Detroit’s Legacy of ‘Me to We’ 

November 4, 2025

As BWB celebrates its 20th anniversary, Detroit stands as one of its earliest and longest-running chapters—a living legacy of what happens when empathy meets action, and when a community chooses to show up for one another year after year.

What began as a few blankets in the back of one person’s jeep has turned  into a movement rooted in compassion and driven by community. From winter backpacking drives to summer Free Stores, we’ve seen how small acts of kindness have contributed to creating positive change in Detroit.

To honor the legacy of BWB Detroit, we’re launching a matching grant campaign: every dollar donated this Fall will be doubled, up to $1,500. Your support keeps the work going—helping Detroit fill more backpacks, serve more meals, and remind more people that they matter.

A Beginning Under a Bridge

The Detroit story started simply. Danielle ‘Doxie’ Kaltz noticed neighbors living under bridges during the cold Michigan winters. One day, she stopped her jeep, rolled down the window, and asked if a man needed anything. He said, “Yes”.

That moment became the start of a mission. She began collecting food, socks, and blankets from friends and coworkers, turning her jeep into a mobile supply station. Intuitively, she recognized “We’re Burners — this is what we do!”

By 2008, the Burners Without Borders Detroit Chapter had officially formed. What began with one person’s mission became a city-wide network of volunteers dedicated to caring for the under-housed — one backpack, one hello, one act of kindness at a time.

A Legacy of Doing

Over the years, Detroit’s chapter has grown from a handful of helpers into a deeply rooted community project. This is the essence of Me to We work.

Before the cold Detroit winters would hit, volunteers gathered to pack backpacks “Detroit assembly-style,” filling them with food, hygiene supplies, warm clothing, and handwritten notes of encouragement.

In between winters, the giving didn’t stop. BWB Detroit has built bridges between art, service, and social change through creative collaborations.

Here is a look back at some of their projects.

• Homeless Backpack Project (2007–present):

The heart of BWB Detroit. Volunteers assemble and personally distribute supply-filled backpacks—socks, gloves, hats, hand warmers, hygiene kits, soft foods, water/juice, emergency blankets, ponchos, and a small gift card—while sharing names and conversation to keep dignity at the center.

• LuvACunt Titties & Clitties ( 2007 to 2020):

Turned body-positive performance art at Detroit’s Dirty Show into a fundraiser for Burners Without Borders Detroit. The project invited women to create body prints and later hand-made “Vag Badges,” reclaiming language and celebrating self-expression. Each year, this event raised thousands of dollars to support BWB Detroit’s Homeless Backpack Project—transforming art, activism, and empowerment into direct community impact.

• “Reveal Your Detroit” Photography Project (2012):

Burners Without Borders Detroit joined the Detroit Institute of Arts’ Reveal Your Detroit initiative—a citywide photography project highlighting community perspectives. As part of the effort, BWB Detroit distributed twenty disposable cameras to individuals experiencing homelessness, inviting them to capture life through their own eyes. The resulting collection, Through the Eyes of the Homeless, offered powerful, first-person narratives of resilience and humanity. The work was later featured at the Detroit Public Library in collaboration with the DIA, WDET, and other local partners—bridging art, awareness, and empathy across Detroit’s neighborhoods.

• The Street Store Project (2014):

A pop-up outdoor boutique where people could choose clean clothes, hygiene kits, and even get a haircut — all free and offered with dignity.

• The Detroit Free Store (2015–present):

Monthly community pop-ups offering clothes, hygiene packs, haircut, warm meals and conversation — later expanded through partnerships with Street Medicine Detroit, Street Dogs Detroit, and the Michigan Humane Society.

Backpacks to Beds (2023–present):

• The newest chapter in Detroit’s story, supporting New Path Villages — a model of micro-shelters that offer stability, safety, and hope to Detroiters seeking housing.

Cass Park with the Wobbly Kitchen (2024–present):

• Burners Without Borders Detroit joins forces with The Wobbly Kitchen in Cass Park to serve hot meals, distribute supplies, and build connections with under-housed neighbors.

Each new project stays rooted in the same principle: human connection comes first.

The Power of a Hello

For Doxie, it has never been about handouts — it’s about seeing people.

“I always say hi. It humanizes everything,” she says. “You’re a person. I’m a person. That’s where it starts.”

Every conversation, every shared meal, every handwritten note tucked inside a backpack reinforces that truth.

This is what radical inclusion looks like when it’s lived out in everyday life — neighbors helping neighbors, strangers becoming friends, and community built one act at a time.

Double the Impact: The Fall Matching Campaign

To celebrate twenty years of Burners Without Borders, BWB launched a matching grant campaign — doubling every donation to BWB Detroit up to $1,500 through November 15th.

Each contribution supports winter outreach and their Backpacks to Beds initiative.

You can:

• Donate directly today to see your tax-deductible donation doubled.
  • Venmo: @NPV373 (Note: MatchMeBWB)
    PayPal: newpathvillages@gmail.com (Note: MatchMeBWB)
• Ship supplies via Amazon Wishlist (socks, hand warmers, hygiene items, emergency blankets, snacks)
• Spread the word using #MatchMeBWB
  

Small gifts make big ripples — and right now, your impact goes twice as far.

Legacy & the Road Ahead

Detroit has always been a city of makers — of cars, of music, of movements.
For two decades, Burners Without Borders Detroit has built something just as vital: a culture of care.

As BWB enters its next chapter, the invitation is clear: keep showing up, keep creating, keep caring.
Because the most powerful thing any of us can build is community itself.

If you are interested in creating your own backpack project, check out the BWB Backpack Project Toolkit! 

📊 Impact by the Numbers (2007 – 2025)

🧡 Support BWB Detroit

Donate or learn more: burnerswithoutborders.org/projects/bwb-detroit
Follow on Facebook: facebook.com/BWBDetroit

If you are interested in creating your own backpack project, check out the BWB Backpack Project Toolkit!