A Way to Care & Share: The Foster Love Closet
Kid’s clothes are expensive, every parent knows that! Plus, they seem to outgrow clothing so quickly. Foster parents are acutely aware of this, especially when they open their doors to extra children who often show up with only the clothes on their backs or clothing that is too small, stained, or ripped. Since they never know if a child is going to be staying a few days or a few years, investing a lot of money on clothing is a big expense, especially if that child ends up leaving as quickly as they came.
Erin Richael, Cheryl Flick, and Kara Brody, all foster parents themselves, decided to start Foster Love Closet, since they knew firsthand about the costs involved in fostering and realized that there was a need for something like this in the Buffalo area. Located in Alden, this all-volunteer organization supplies clothing, along with other child/young adult items, at no cost to foster families.
“When we first started looking for a donated space in the spring of 2018, another closet opened but it’s further south than we are, I think in Dunkirk,” said Cheryl Flick. “Since we opened our doors, other closets located in Niagara Falls and in North Tonawanda, have modeled their closets after ours. We have also gotten calls and emails from people out of our county and state that wanted to open closets whom we have given helpful suggestions to.”
Since Foster Love Closet opened in August of 2018, they have helped close to 350 children. At first, the three women collected and stored items at their homes, but then were able to set up a “store” in donated space at the Town Line Lutheran Church in Alden.
All the items available, which are donated by people in the community, are either new or gently used; however, socks and underwear are always new. They carry clothes and shoes for all sizes, from newborn to plus sizes, since foster care goes to age 18. Also available are items like car seats, cribs, high chairs, and diapers.
Often children come with their siblings, so foster families may be taking in several children with, essentially, nothing. “Just last week we had a family come to the Foster Love Closet with a child that moved in with them the night before. The little girl came with a pair of shoes that were WAY too small for her. They brought her shopping without shoes in hopes of finding ones that fit her properly and didn’t hurt. She is two years old and sadly this is common,” said Flick.
Foster Love Closet is available to both foster families and kinship families. The difference between foster and kinship is that a kinship family is blood related to the child. Some foster families are also related to the child but they’re foster certified, whereas with kinship you don’t have to be foster certified, you just step up to take custody of the child or children you’re related to.
Typically, families can come and shop up to four times a year and/or with every new placement. “We’ve had families come see us one week and then two weeks later, for example, they are back with new children; this just happened with a family this past week. If a family has to shop more often because of a child growing quickly we would certainly welcome them back. Families can also trade clothes, so if a child was just in size 3-6 months clothes and the child needs size 6-9 months a few weeks later, they can exchange clothes to help them and us benefit,” said Flick.
Foster parents just need to bring placement papers and a photo ID to shop at Foster Love Closet. They are encouraged to bring the children along to help pick out their clothing. They get to choose one weeks’ worth of clothing, along with pajamas and extras like coats and shoes.
Open hours vary. The three women that primarily run the closet all work full-time and have families. They ask that people check the organization’s Facebook page, website, or call to check the current hours. They offer an open donation day the first Saturday of every month. On this day they will accept all seasonal clothes, currently winter due to storage space, and any other items. If a family needs to donate on a day other than the first Saturday, they certainly welcome that as well. They try to have extra volunteers the first Saturday of the month to help sort and organize all the donations from a large drop-off day.
Schools, businesses, and other groups often help contribute to Foster Love Closet by holding toy and diaper drives. “We always are in need of new toys, socks and underwear for toddlers and teens, along with diapers, wipes and pull-ups. We go through a lot of larger sized diapers since there are a lot of kids that come into foster care that aren’t potty trained and need the larger sizes of diapers and pull-ups,” said Flick.
If you are a foster parent who would like more information or would like to help Foster Love Closet by making a donation of clothing or other items, contact them at fosterlovecloset@gmail.com or call Cheryl Flick at 716-984-7642. Foster Love Closet is located at 1159 Town Line Road in Alden.
Christine Smyczynski is a Getzville, NY freelance writer and long-time contributor to WNY Family. Her son’s Boy Scout Troop organized a diaper drive to donate to Foster Love Closet.