TNOYS member Clothed by Faith was created when founder Abi Fourie noticed a growing need for suitable clothing for children experiencing poverty. As a recent expat from the U.K., Abi was surprised to learn the extent to which poverty was an issue in her community — even within the affluent areas surrounding her new home of Katy, Texas.
Clothed by Faith (CBF) got started in 2013 out of Abi’s garage, with the help of a small group of friends who felt called by their faith to serve those in need. The organization provided clothing to 75 children in its first year, and Abi’s efforts expanded rapidly. This year alone, Clothed by Faith has served 15,000 people in 195 Texas zip codes, with about 65 – 70% of recipients aged 17 or younger. In August, CBF celebrated 50,000 clients served in just six years.
Throughout their rapid growth, Clothed by Faith has remained guided by a mission of love and dignity in everything they do. CBF aims to not just provide clothing, but to give personalized items in like-new condition and package each donation with love.
“It’s all about dignity” explained Executive Director Titus Benton, “We want people to be proud of the clothes they’ve received.”
This ethos informs every step of CBF’s donation process. On their intake forms, CBF collects personal preferences such as color and style choices in addition to sizing information. Volunteers then carefully choose a week’s worth of outfits for each client, and assemble everything in a gift package that appears new from a store. The discrete presentation is especially appreciated among youth, as it allows them to avoid being singled out by peers when picking up donations at school.
As Titus shared, “I’ve heard more than one person comment that when they get their bag of clothes, it feels like Christmas.”
According to Titus, the collaborative opportunities afforded by TNOYS membership have greatly helped CBF to reach more clients. This was especially important after Hurricane Harvey, when Clothed by Faith served over 8,000 children, youth, and adults, thanks to the collaborative efforts of TNOYS members.
Recently, a $50,000 grant from TNOYS has helped Clothed by Faith to forge additional partnerships, and ultimately serve more youth. CBF used the funding to produce and distribute informational videos for schools outside of Harris county that they were not yet serving. As Titus shared, “[the videos] helped us till a lot of new ground and build relationships with school districts that we hadn’t worked with before. That has been instrumental in a lot of our growth, and enabled us to use other funds in different regions.”
TNOYS is pleased to support the amazing work of Clothed by Faith, and we’re grateful for their membership.
Want to learn how your organization can partner with Clothed by Faith to receive clothing for clients? Please email titus@clothedbyfaith.org. It is easy to register as an agency partner at www.clothedbyfaith.org, and most agency orders are fulfilled within 48 hours. Please note that the request system is currently closed for the holidays, and will re-open on January 6th.