Kids’ Closet helps Orange County’s homeless students find their fit for school

ORLANDO, Fla. – A portable on an Orange County Public Schools administrative campus along John Young Parkway may look unassuming, but inside are shelves of donations for some of the county’s most needy students.

Inside, Rochelle Deliz is packing bags, taking clothes from boxes marked “boys pants size large” or “hygiene” or from shelves of school supplies.

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“One of the things I’ve seen in different schools, even with the younger kids, is they very much know what’s going on in their life,” said Deliz, who is a Kids’ Closet coordinator. “They know that there’s hardship, and they know their parents work really hard, so they say, ‘Thank you, my mom is going to be so happy.’”

Last year, Orange County Public Schools served more than 8,800 homeless students, identified as children who do not have a stable housing situation. That could mean living at a shelter, living in a car, living in a hotel or couch surfing.

[WATCH: 8,828 students. No permanent home. Orange County’s struggle to keep homeless kids in school]

“Most of our families are hard-working individuals,” said Christine Cleveland, who runs the homeless education program at OCPS. “Some have bachelor’s degrees, some have master’s, some have corporate jobs, they are the people that are probably working side-by-side with you and you have no idea what they’re going through when they leave work at the end of the day.”

Cleveland gets some funding from the government, but there are little things that help a student get through a school year that taxpayer dollars can’t be used for. That’s where private donations come in.

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The Kids’ Closet is a big part of that. School social workers notify Cleveland about what students need. Then, Cleveland and Deliz get to packing bags.

“They don’t have the stigma of coming in with clothes that may have been used or worn, and not necessarily gently used, but used that even their shoes are falling apart, and we have the ability to give them some shoes so that they can better fit in with their peers,” Cleveland said.

The available clothes range from small children’s shirts to adult pants. It includes undergarments, socks and shoes.

Cleveland and Deliz try to make sure the students receive the items in unmarked bags, so that it’s not obvious they’re getting donations. They also try, when possible, to make sure the clothes are a bit trendy.

Deliz says students who get the clothes and shoes are more likely to have better attendance.

“It’s really important to maintain dignity when you’re talking about students who are homeless,” Deliz said. “Having clothes that make them feel more like their peers, their friends... makes them feel like they do have that.”

The homeless education program also tries to help with all the other little things that make up a school experience.

“We cover field trips for students as well, so that they can go on those educational field trips with their peers,” Cleveland said.

Cleveland doesn’t have a list of all the things her agency can currently do, because it all depends on donations.

Last year, a nonprofit provided thousands of pairs of shoes for the Kids’ Closet. Cleveland says that in the past, she’s been able to offer families grocery gift cards to help supplement food donations.

Two years ago, a donor helped pay for things like yearbooks, caps and gowns, and Grad Bash events for graduating seniors who were homeless. Cleveland says that donor wasn’t able to help last year.

“It’s tough for a student who’s worked really hard to graduate and it’s $75 for a cap and a gown that they can’t afford to do or even they won’t leave with even just the memory,” Cleveland said.

All of Central Florida’s school districts have homeless education programs and are looking for help from the community.

If you know a family who is homeless with children in the school district, or you want to donate to the program, go to the OCPS homeless program website.

You can also email Christine Cleveland at homelesshelp@ocps.net.

If you are in another Central Florida county, you can find the other public school district homeless programs in the table below.

[TABLE: Homeless student programs in Central Florida school districts]