By David Krough, TJJD Communications —
The “Clothes Closet” at the Gainesville State Juvenile Correctional Facility helps to outfit youth who are leaving with donated gently-used or new men’s and boy’s wear that they’ll soon need for job and school interviews.
In operation for more than 16 years at Gainesville, the Clothes Closet has helped outfit more than 1,200 youth as they transition back to the community.
The Student Support Council, a nonprofit group of community volunteers, helps with a variety of activities and needs at the Gainesville facility. They also get $1,000 quarterly donations to the clothing closet from a group of volunteers in nearby Lake Kiowa, in addition to holding clothing drives and collecting donations from Gainesville staff.
“Our goal is to make sure youth are able to enter back into society feeling confident and prepared,” Gainesville Volunteer Coordinator Carmelo Rodriguez said.
He helps youth select the clothing they’ll receive and often hears positive feedback from the teens when they try on garments at the clothing closet.
“I feel so professional, I may have to run for President now!” said one youth whom Rodriguez recently outfitted.
Youths receive a suit jacket, jeans, dress pants, casual shirts, dress shirts, shoes/sneakers, shorts, hoodies, undergarments, a belt and hygiene products (body wash, deodorant, tooth brushes, and tooth paste). The closet also stocks some casual wear for youths who may not have much of a wardrobe waiting for them back home.
Carol Hermes has volunteered with the council for more than 16 years and says she remembers taking in some of the first donations when the program began, as she took all of the clothes home, laundered them and got them ready to hand out to the youth.
“Sometimes we get huge donations of really nice things; we’re not the Goodwill or a garage sale,” she said. “We get things I would be proud to dress my grandkids in – they have to look good. We also give them things that are respectable, things that have people think ‘this kid is on the ball.’ We don’t dress (them) up like old fogies, but we want them to look good.”
The Clothing Closet enjoys strong support from the Gainesville community. In addition to the Student Support Council, other local organizations that have donated include Second Time Around Resale (STAR), At the Treehouse, Temple Baptist Church and the New Life Bible Church.
“We want them to feel like they have items they wouldn’t usually get. We try to offer things that are a bit more classic, rather than faddish,” Hermes said. “You can go looking like you’re dressed for success, that’s what we like to call it.”
Many of the youth often enter the facility one size and, being in their fast-growing teen years, come out needing entirely new fitting clothes. There are also youth who return to families that at the time may not be able to afford new outfits.
Besides the dressed-up look they try to provide for youth, the closet also offers more casual everyday wear, like jeans, athletic clothes and sports team attire.
“I’m pretty proud of the things we’re able to provide for them,” Hermes said. “We have to be very judicious. We try to buy things that will be useful in the long-term. The kids are still leaving with clothes, that’s the important thing.”
A visit to the clothing closet leaves youth feeling empowered, confident and prepared to enter back into the world truly rehabilitated, Rodriguez says.
“I feel like a million bucks,” one youth said after getting dressed. “Oh, I’m definitely getting a job wearing this!”
Staff at Gainesville are always accepting donations to the clothing closet and encourage anyone to contact the facility (940) 665-0469 to arrange a drop-off, as they do not accept donation bags at the gatehouse.