Charities, Clothing Donations


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	Charities, Clothing Donations


The comments below are unedited opinions of the colleagues who submitted them. A date (month and year) indicates that the comments following that date are from the given month and year. The most recent comments appear at the bottom.

12/98 Pine Street Inn takes this type of donation to prepare a homeless person for the world. You may want to try Elizabeth Stone House, they are a battered women's shelter and do have career seminars and the like. The number should be in the phone book. If not, let me know. I can track it down. I'd try On the Rise, a shelter in Cambridge for women, whose director, Katya Fels, was featured in the Globe recently. Their office used to be located in our church, but I think may have moved. I believe their telephone number is 4977968. They will either be glad to have them or have a much clearer idea who would make good use of the clothes. Transition House in Cambridge helps battered women and their children. It's a great organization that helps them get new jobs, apartments, and daycare. I'll ask around to see if I can get a phone number for them. I have heard that such places exist, but do not happen to know specific names. However, the Women's Educational and Industrial Union on Boylston Street does quite a bit of charity work for Horizons, a transitional housing program for abused and homeless women with children. Those women, formerly shelter inhabitants, are (through Horizons) in job training programs so they could probably use your donation. I don't have a direct number, but if you cannot find it, I am sure that you could go through WEIU to find it. Rosie's Place in Boston does. They do job training, including presentation. And they do a lot of other great work for homeless women. How about selling them to Second Time Around in Harvard Square, then donating the proceeds in cash to your choice of charity? Your tax deduction would probably be less, but the value to the recipient of your might be greater. My friend shops to fill time overseas, and she also has very nice clothes, some of which she wears a few times and then takes to Second Time Around. As a consignment shop, they pick what they think will sell (most of what my friend has), then send her a monthly check with her share of any proceeds. I could retire on what she gets from consignment sales. If I were you, and people did come up with places that take career clothing for use as such, I'd separate out the designer stuff with an image value beyond the items' use value in an interview setting especially fabrics that need special care or even ordinary but frequent dry cleaning sell these high cash value items that can be replaced in an interview with lowcost generics to the consignment shop, then donate the remainder in kind, including things like basic blouses, belts and bottoms that are a tad out of fashion. Earlier in the year I found a place in Lowell called "Dress for Success" which is a thrift shop of career clothing, only open to women with economic need, for whatever reason. It is NOT open to general public. However, I do not have their number. I originally got it from Lowell City Hall. 11/99 *Here are the responses to my request for places to donate women's work/career clothes and baby clothes. Several people suggested Rosie's Place. They have a web site for those who want further info (www.rosies.org). Someone also suggested Goodwill, which also has a web site that lists locations all around the Boston area and suburbs where you can drop off donations (www.goodwill.org). A few people thought the place that provided women with an outfit for an interview and one for work was called "Dress for Success" and they have a web site (www.dressforsuccess.org), but they don't have any locations in Massachusetts. I don't have a lot of information for you, but I do know there is an organization called Dressed for Success that accepts professional women's clothing (like suits). This group gives homeless/low income women one suit for the job interview, and one to wear the first day of work. It's a great organization, but I don't have their number. I bet you can get the number through the Cambridge Women's Center, though. Their # is: 3548807. The article on the women's clothing for unemployed/welfare women was featured in the Sunday Globe magazine. Maybe you could look for the article online. On the work/professional clothes, I also remember reading about it. The place was either the Women's Educational and Industrial Union on Boylston Street, or Rosie's Place. I recommend that you try Rosie's Place, a homeless shelter for women (and children?) with AIDS. I don't know the phone number, but I believe it's located in Boston. Also, you could check with the Pine Street Inn, located in Boston. Hi. There's always Rosie's Place in Boston. I think I know the organization you are talking about for women's professional clothes it's called "Dress for Success". Not sure about contact info, but it's probably in the phone book. Good luck You can always donate women's and children's clothes to Rosie's Place. I don't know if this would be the best place for professional clothes, however. I've often donated clothes to the Women's Lunch Place in Boston and I have a bunch of baby clothes that will be on their way there, too. Rosie's Place on the South End/Roxbury line in Boston takes clothes and at least used to have training for getting a job, what to wear, how to be on time, etc. I give Rosie's Place in Boston a call. It's woman's homeless shelter which boards women w/children in trouble and counsels them back to the work force and/or independence. I live by a battered woman's shelter in Peabody, for women and their children. They typically live there 36 months before being relocated. I know baby/children clothes or woman's clothes would be appreciated. Located on Washington St. (128N, Exit 26 Lowell St., turns into Main St. Right onto Washington St.) they're called Inn Transition. I donate everything, and I do mean almost EVERYTHING, to the Italian Children's Home in Jamaica Plain. It is not really a home for Italian Children; it is a place of last resort for children so badly abused that they can't even function within the foster care system. They are the saddest of all the sad things in this unequal society of ours, and I give these people everything I can and count myself blessed that I am able to do so. My church has a program where they offer women who are coming off of Welfare and entering the work force. They would appreciate anything you have to offer. New Covenant Christian Church is located at 1500 Blue Hill Ave, Boston, MA 02126, 6172965683. Their Mission outreach center is located @ 340 Blue Hill Ave, Dorchester, MA 02124, 6175413250. Here is an organization both for women and their infants and children. They help the mother get her GED to enable her to get off welfare, etc. and they have child care for their children, etc. Give this person a call: Sheila King, Julie's Family Learning Program 230 W. Sixth St. South Boston, MA 02127 6172696663 **There's the Crittenden Hastings House in Brighton which helps teen moms get their GED, jobs, child care, etc. (A friend of mine used to work there.) Also, FYI, the Pine St. Inn will come to your house and pick things up if you ask I donated a bunch of stuff to them last month (furniture, clothing, household stuff).