Foster Children’s Resource Center: Organized Chaos

At FCRC, volunteers hand out new clothes and toys to children who need them. First, the family enters through the tiny “lobby.” (Title page) Then, they are welcomed into the area where all of the clothes and toys are on display.

In the first area, all the toys and books are stacked on shelves, but it’s hard to keep them neat. The toys are organized by ‘big’ toys and ‘small’ toys. Bigger toys and games are to the left, with games on the bottom 3 shelves. The children get to choose from these once a year. On the right are the smaller toys, which children get to choose every 6 months. To the left of the toy shelf is the bookshelf. Children get to choose a book every time they come to the Center.

These are the socks and underwear. The little girl panties are on the two shelves on the top left, with socks on the two middle shelves, and little boy underwear on the bottom two shelves. On the upper right shelf are boxers, and on the shelves underneath are panties, boxer briefs, and more socks. In the tubs on the bottom right shelf there are bras. The table in front of the shelves is where everything gets organized and put into pillowcases or bags for the families to take.

The picture on the top left shows the other side of the sock shelf. This side stores all of the pajamas in tubs organized by size and boy/girl. The top right picture shows the play area. There are several toys for kids to play with while they wait, and this gets very messy. The bottom picture shows the view of an aisle. There are clothes hanging on the ends, and a lot of clothes folded up on shelves . This aisle holds little women’s and girls’ shirts and jeans.

This is where all of the baby clothes are stored. The jeans for kids 3 and under are folded on the shelf, and the shirts and outfits are hanging on hangers. On the right side, jackets for the young kids hang on hangers; girls on top and boys on the bottom.

You can see that most of the aisles have hanging clothes. In this picture, little boys’ outfits hang against the wall. On the right are little boys’ shirts hung up, with extras on the top shelf. To the left are little boys’ and girls’ sweatsuits, organized by age, as all of the clothes at the Center are.

This picture shows where the uniforms are kept. Kids get a uniform every time they come, if they need one. Against the wall are girls’ shorts, skirts and pants. To the left are boys’ shorts and pants, and shirts hanging. To the right are some extra mens’ jackets.

The left picture shows some mens’ shorts hanging. There are also extra hangers stacked on racks. This is in the back. The right picture is also in the back; it shows boys’ and mens’ jeans stacked on shelves. Husky sizes are on top. These jeans get refolded constantly, as they are taken down often to be tried on. To the left are mens’ shirts on display.

This is a picture of the dressing room. There are two dressing rooms, and if those get full, kids can also use the bathroom to try on clothes. In both dressing rooms, there is a chair, a full length mirror, and a poster on the wall. The dressing room is covered by a curtain.

These are the last things to get picked out. These are extras. They are knitted by a group of ladies who then donates them to the Center. There are many sizes and styles. This is one of the messiest areas, since it’s hard to keep these organized.