Sara Fender founded the nonprofit Caring Closet in 2008 to provide clothing for children in foster care. (Photo by Jay Paul)
A local nonprofit that began in a garage with the goal of providing clothing for children in foster care has found its forever home in an almost 8,000-square-foot building that is being provided rent-free by United Methodist Family Services.
The move will allow Caring Closet — which has served more than 10,000 clients since the organization’s inception in 2008 — to expand the goods and services it offers to families and children in need, and to reach even more clients.
“This is a unique and first-of-its-kind collaboration” for UMFS, says Sara Fender, Caring Closet’s founder and executive director.
Fender created the Caring Clothes Closet — which rebranded to Caring Closet after being selected for the 2022 CreateAthon@VCU — after volunteering with UMFS in the early 2000s. She initially approached UMFS with an idea to gather and distribute clothing to children in need. When space wasn’t available, she began collecting clothes at her home. Over the years, the “closet” moved multiple times, seeking to provide for an ever-growing clientele. This new move to the UMFS campus on West Broad Street should be the Caring Closet’s last, Fender says.
“We are honored and humbled that UMFS chose us for this collaboration,” she says. “We have finally found our permanent home.”
