As I’ve struggle in Orlando recently, it’s been hard to come upon a community closet that can help give everyone that needs help what they need to survive.
Which is weird. Because I’m sure you and even myself in my past life have donated generously to various charitable organizations.
We see the bins all over town, where you can just drop your clothing in and launch them into a second life, where they’ll keep someone warm or prepared to go to work.
But that just isn’t the case in Orlando right now.
There does seem to be an explanation though.
Many of the organizations you give your clothes to will put them up for sale. The proceeds of those sales still go to fund programs that help people. There is certainly nothing wrong with that. Those are great groups.
Still, as I scrounged for shoes recently, I realized that all of the pairs of shoes in those secondhand stores aren’t helping myself or anyone else who needs them.
The best course of action is to give your clothing directly to an organization that will immediately give them to a person who needs it. This may be a smaller group or church.
And yes, I understand this requires an extra step. Many of us donate these items for the bonus of helping others but with the intentions of simply trying to free up space for stuff that doesn’t fit us anymore.
It’s all sad because clothes can help rebuild someone. And the fact that we can’t find what we need despite the abundance of stock out there is a problem.
But we can fix it if we do a little more research. It might even help me during my tough times in this Orlando housing crisis.
Dear readers. Times are tough. If you could help out below, I’d be grateful. If you have any questions, you can reach me directly at Torres.fjr@gmail.com
NEXT: Read about the severe anxiety those struggling to find housing in Orlando experience HERE