Carters House

Founded in 2013, Carter's House is the brainchild of our founder, Shawana O. Carter. She wanted to start this organization to help families in the same situation she and her family had when moving to the area. Putting two children in school and requiring uniforms can be costly, especially when she and her family live in transitional housing. She found out about the McKinney-Vento act and Project PASS, which help families transition with school uniforms. This program was a blessing in disguise for her family, but it is only available to those in a housing crisis. Carter's House provides those that don't meet the housing stipulation for Project PASS.  Our customers must verify that they are receiving assistance from the State in one of the following areas: SNAP, TANF, Medicaid, Childcare, or Housing. And if not, we have processes in place for those families to possibly still be eligible for services.  When we started, we thought this would be an occasional uniform given out. Yet, as the last seven years have progressed, we have seen a real need for our service in the community, and we are excited to help our community be a better place. Carter’s House has provided a one-of-kind shopping experience to over 5,500 children and teens with clothing, shoes, and more through our programs, major events, community events, and partner referrals. Through our services, the families have saved over $500,000.00. 

Carter's House currently has two operating programs: 

Carter's House Community Clothing Bank (CHCCB) and The Village Support Group. 

Our Community Clothing Bank operates annually from July to May. In the Bank, customers shop for everyday wear, undergarments, socks, shoes, and school uniforms for their children. On average, parents who use our service save hundreds of dollars for their families. Parents shop with us up to three times per year. Over the last seven years, our program has provided clothing to over five thousand students. 

The Village Support Group addresses a community-wide issue. Parents are getting younger, and some do not learn how to express their feelings, handle conflict, build healthy relationships, discipline their children, etc. We are currently offering our group to twenty parents, and we are using a private Facebook group for communication with the parents. While this program is in its infancy stages, our goal is to run it in six months increments with 20 participants. We are instituting our case management program for these parents. Our programs allow us to assist the children and parents of our community by removing financial barriers of providing clothes to their children while providing continual support to their parents.

Mission Statement: To nurture the self-esteem and confidence of families experiencing poverty by providing clothing and community support that improves their lives.