The Connection

The Center for Alexandria's Children and The Fund for Alexandria’s Child have joined forces to open ALX Closet, a new clothing and resource center located at the Del Pepper Community Resource Center to serve Alexandria families in need.

The Closet officially opened Aug. 1 with a ribbon cutting and members of the social services community in attendance.

“I cannot even explain how exciting it is to be here today celebrating this incredible collaboration between the Center for Alexandria’s Children and the Fund for Alexandria's Child,” said Giselle Pelaez, executive director of the Center for Alexandria’s Children. “ALX Closet is dedicated to supporting Alexandria’s children and families in times of emergency or crisis. The mission of this shared initiative is to provide essential items to people in need ensuring that every child and family has access to clothing and other necessities during challenging times.”

Through donations, ALX Closet is stocked with children's clothing up to size 14/16, toiletries and hygiene products, diapers, wipes and formula, and gift cards as available.

Kathy Horan organizes clothing at the Aug. 1 opening of ALX Closet. 

 

Local resident Sally Simmons was on hand for the grand opening.

“My family has a small foundation and we like to make donations within Alexandria, particularly with regard to the safety and health of women and children,” Simmons said. “This is a vital organization as they work with children and families coming from out of the country. The children need help and the parents need help, which is why we work with the Child and Family Network Center.”

Access to ALX Closet will be through the social services providers located in the Del Pepper Community Resource Center.

Alexandria Fire Department Battalion Chief Anthony Kelly attended the opening after participating in a donation drive for the center.

“We are a service to the community and anytime we have an opportunity to pour back into the community we take advantage of that,” Kelly said. “What better opportunity than to help some of the most vulnerable parts of our population. The men and women of the fire department donated mainly toiletries and gift cards. We know that every little bit helps.”

ALX Closet will be operated by volunteers, which will be needed Monday-Friday mornings. Inventory will be stocked on a seasonal basis.

“We already have a huge stock of fall things so our intention is each season to rotate our inventory,” said Christine Levine of the Fund for Alexandria’s Child. We are really excited about our holiday dresses and we will need a lot of Halloween costumes in October.”

Through a donation from the Bruhn-Morris Family Foundation, ALX Closet has a supply of pack-and-play cribettes.

“We have the pack-and-play cribettes that we give out to our families in need because we want every child to have a safe bed to sleep in at night,” Levine said. “We are very grateful to Lori Morris and the Bruhn-Morris Family Foundation for their generosity.”

The city will provide ongoing lists of donation requests to keep the closet stocked and able to provide support to families in need.

“We have collaborated to create ALX Closet specifically with a focus on providing a dignified opportunity for families to access emergency resources and to provide an opportunity for service providers to engage with families in a very relaxed setting while that family is in crisis,” Pelaez added.

The Center for Alexandria's Children provides prevention, intervention, and treatment programs to Alexandria’s children and families. The Fund for Alexandria’s Child processes requests to provide immediate assistance in the form of basic needs and life-enhancing opportunities to children in foster care and children who are at risk of abuse and neglect.

“This is more than just clothing,” Simmons said. “It's about helping people find the right place to go in this building for the resources to meet their daily needs.”

www.centerforalexandriaschildren.org