The holiday season is here and our community is stepping up in generous ways to volunteer, give financially and provide donations for our clients. These gifts—and clothing and hygiene product donations, in particular—benefit our clients in a direct and tangible way. So we’re excited to accept them now and throughout the year.

Because we want to get donations into the hands of our clients quickly and as they need them, we ask that staff follow a couple simple steps when fielding donation queries from folks outside of Health Care for the Homeless, and when making donations themselves.

Donations guidelines

While anyone at Health Care for the Homeless can access items for clients in the agency’s main clothing closet at 421 Fallsway, the Development team stocks and manages the closet, so all donation activity must be coordinated through Development team members.

Development keeps tabs on all incoming donations and ensures that the closet remains clean, organized and properly stocked with much-needed seasonal items. And to do this, it must coordinate with donors which, sometimes, can mean referring them and their gifts to other organizations. So prior to bringing any donations to 421 Fallsway, please 1) reference our list of approved donations and 2) contact Ashley McKinnon, Development Associate, (ext. 1345) to confirm that we can accept them.

An agencywide procedure will be made available in coming weeks that explains how in-kind donations are vetted, accepted and stored at all sites. In the meantime, please reach out to Ashley McKinnon or Amy Tarleton. And thank you for helping us help our clients access the clothing and other items they need.