Carolynn VanDyke of Midland, NC organizes clothing by size in her walk-up attic "clothing closet"

A Real Walk-In Closet

Often children arrive at a new foster home with very little in the ways of personal belongings—perhaps just a few plastic bags of clothes and sundries. In many places, foster parents receive a voucher for clothing when a child is placed in their home—in Cabarrus County, until 2004, that voucher was for $100. But budget cuts led county child welfare authorities to eliminate the voucher entirely.

In response, a group of foster parents came up with the idea of a "clothing closet", a place where clothing and supplies would be stored to have readily available when a child came into care. "I just know with my foster children, how fast they grow out of clothing and how most of it stays in very good shape. I wanted to organize this so that foster children could dress as well as any other child," said Carolynn Vandyke, a foster mother in Midland, N.C. who set up a clothing closet in her walk-up attic. Another foster parent took the responsibility of contacting businesses, churches and commercial realtors to find a place to set up a second closet on the opposite side of the county. One local business graciously donated space in the walk-out basement of their business.

Other foster moms went out on Saturday mornings to yard sales to distribute flyers to sellers urging them to donate clothing, toys, books, baby furniture and accessories that didn't sell to the project. The flyer gave the location of a convenient drop-off location or a phone number to call for pick-up. Other foster parents contacted consignment stores and churches that held consignment sales on a regular basis.

Approximately 14 foster parents, men and women, are involved in the clothing closet, helping to collect, fold and store the items.

After two years, the clothing closets are fully stocked with clean, like-new clothing and supplies, standing ready for children when they are placed in a foster home. Jane Cauthen, program manager for the Cabarrus County Department of Social Services, says that the active partnership between foster parents and the community make the program a success, and helped ease the decision to eliminate the vouchers.