Pants!

This week the CC is all about pants, which gives us a chance to explain to you how we work. Each Salem Public School has a Clothing Connection Closet with pants, shirts, socks, underwear, sweatshirts and coats. In some cases, schools have a second, smaller closet in the nurse’s office. When staff - usually Family Engagement Facilitators, City Connects Coordinators, nurses, and adjustment counselors - identify a child with a clothing need, they go into the closet and meet the need. At Collins Middle School and Salem High, kids often “shop” in the closets themselves. When items are running low, staff contact us and we restock. This week, it’s been all about boys’ pants; two elementary schools are out. First we visit our storehouse at First Church and gather what we have, aiming for several pairs each in every boys’ size from 4/5 up through adult XL. In our storehouse, we have a mix of gently used and new donated items and new items that we’ve purchased in advance, on sale. Then we shop for the rest, and get them to staff, who get the closet back up to “full.”