The Community Clothing Room: More Than Clothes

Run by volunteers, store in Syracuse provides free clothing to those in need

By Carol Radin

Racks and racks of men’s and women’s clothing — but nothing is for sale. The garments look new. But they are actually gently-used and donated.

It is the Community Clothing Room or Clothing Room for short, a service of the Interfaith Community Co-Op @ 324, housed in University United Methodist Church on East Genesee Street in Syracuse.

On typical Thursday and Sunday mornings, when the Clothing Room is open, anyone can browse the circular racks, labeled by category, size, age group and gender, in a room that looks like an old-school department store.

There is energy here: Hangers squeal as they are reeled along the racks, conversations criss-cross the room in English, Spanish, Arabic and African languages and volunteers call a warm greeting to strangers and returning visitors alike.

Multi-tasking, the volunteers may be sorting garments, restocking, folding and at the same time circulating among the browsers who have questions about fit and fabric.

A volunteer might be scooping through a deep box of sneakers looking for sizes for three children in a family. Another might be directing a teen to the blouses. Another might show a mother to the children’s room, where sizes 0 months to 16 years are folded on shelves.

Joyce Flynn, 68, is the coordinator of the Clothing Room. She spends about 15 hours a week on the responsibilities related to replenishing garments and preparing them for display.

The Clothing Room relies on donations from area churches, synagogues and other organizations; private donors and clothing drives; and even some unexpected sources. For instance, Copper Beech Commons, the student apartment building near the church, makes arrangements for a large collection of students’ gently-used clothing at the end of the college semester. In turn, Flynn spends some of her time delivering clothing to organizations and churches that need it for their own neighborhood distributions. Always ready to do the above and beyond, Flynn sometimes even takes worn clothes home to wash before displaying.

The basement where the clothing is housed also has three adjacent rooms for storage and one room for sorting. As in a regular retail store, the array of inventory has to move.

“We flip the fall clothes to make room for the winter clothes, flip the winter clothes….” and so on, Flynn explained. Although she and the other volunteers welcome people to take what they need, they have had to put signage up to limit the number of men’s shirts taken. There is always a shortage of men’s clothes — donors take note!

 

Run by volunteers

The Clothing Room evolved over the past five years as Flynn and her daughter, Kate, made changes side by side to a space that was once no bigger than a walk-in closet. Together with Galyn Murphy-Stanley, the executive director for the Interfaith Community Co-Op, Flynn and Kate helped to fill in more and more gaps. The mother and daughter started a little library, then offered some clothing items along with the books, then helped with food, like Thanksgiving bags and Sunday breakfast for as many as 100 people.

Flynn describes Kate as “a real cheerleader” who overcame several health challenges when younger and continues to help her mother with clothing collections, the Sunday breakfast program and general all-around advocacy and clothing drives in her workplace. Flynn and her husband, Sean, have three adult daughters — Kate is the oldest.

The other volunteers at the Clothing Room are an enthusiastic corps of retirees with their feet on the ground and their sleeves rolled up.

Paulina Murray-Lee, 76, calls herself “The Queen of the Sorters.” True to form, she barely pauses while whipping through piles of shirts to separate by size and gender. Retired from medical administration in New York’s Beth Israel Hospital and New York Presbyterian, Murray-Lee moved here and got word of the Clothing Room when she was volunteering at a polling place and mentioned that she had a hard time finding the rare clothing size worn by her autistic nephew. At the suggestion of another polling place volunteer, Murray-Lee found clothes that fit her nephew. She also found the place where she wanted to pitch in.

Jackie Sadowski, who retired from the county health department, has been with the Clothing Room for almost four years.  “I’ve always been the person who volunteered for everything!” she exclaimed. “I love it!” Her other activities each week include tutoring children from Syracuse’s Huntington Elementary School in math and reading skills and working with the ReStart Program, under the United Methodist Ministries, which assists renters in seeking and furnishing apartments. The 79-year old quipped, “Volunteering and grandchildren keep me young!”

Why do volunteers show up weekly to sort, stock and interact with people in need? Shaelon Ferguson-Davis, 65, said, “I am always trying to make a difference.”

The emphasis is on “always.” She has been there since her retirement from SUNY-ESF two years ago.  Like many other volunteers, Ferguson-Davis is engaged in the community in other ways, including volunteering in hospitality at All Saints’ Church in Syracuse.

Ann Owens, 69, and a retired nurse, can also explain immediately why she’s here.

“It’s the people. The need is so great. Some people will come here with the soles coming off their shoes,” she said.

Yet, in spite of the life obstacles that many of the visitors face, they are always grateful and courteous, Owens said.

Joyce Flynn reflected on her many encounters by saying, “I’ve learned not to judge. When you talk to people, you find out what they are truly going through.”

Given the many visitors’ circumstances, Clothing Room assistants realize this is a place where the support goes far beyond the clothes on someone’s back. “They have a place to come,” Owens said.

And a place for friendly conversation. Flynn has a knack for drawing out even the most reserved.

“I give them my name and ask for theirs. I have a map and I will ask them to show me where they are from,” she said.

Flynn and the other volunteers set a tone for mutual respect and validation. Several volunteers can recount stories of people who come in to browse and end up simply sitting down to chat, and sometimes to vent a bit about the problems that led them to the Clothing Room and to the Interfaith Community Co-op’s other resources. Fortunately, the volunteers have a wealth of social service experience and knowledge among them. So they can sometimes suggest to visitors additional services that might be helpful.

Unfortunately, the needs seem to increase rather than decrease. At the Clothing Room, Flynn sees first-hand what she deems “the injustice of poverty.”  Yet on a practical level at least, she and the other volunteers can continue helping people find garments that will make them feel better about themselves.

“It’s not about giving people the clothing,” Flynn said. “It’s about seeing them as human beings, giving them dignity and making them feel safe and welcome.”

 

The Community Clothing Room

The Clothing Room is part of the Interfaith Community Co-Op@324

Address: 1085 E. Genesee St., Syracuse, NY 13210

Hours:

Thursdays 9 a.m. to noon

Sunday 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.

 

Donations especially needed:

Men’s clothing

Youth clothing: Ages 7 – 16

 

For information on donating and volunteering for Interfaith Community Co-Op activities,

Email: outreach@uumcsyracuse.org