Who is Compassion Closet?

Foster care is often messy...most often, placements are last-minute and families have little time to ensure they have the specific items these children need. The problem is made worse by the fact that children often enter the foster care system with only the clothes they are wearing. These factors can cause the first 24-48 hours of a new placement to be far more stressful for everyone involved than they should be. This is the core reason for the Compassion Closet.

The Compassion Closet exists to show the love of Christ by providing quality clothing and tangible goods to children in foster care and their families. We also desire to serve birth families, aging-out youth, kinship placements, and domestic/international adoptive families as God allows and the needs arise.

The closet was started in 2013 by an adoptive and foster care family as a means of helping other families as they had been helped. Over the years, the closet has grown, now has three locations (with a fourth coming soon!), and is supported by a number of volunteers from churches and organizations all over East Tennessee. The Compassion Closet is incorporated in the State of Tennessee and is a federally-recognized non-profit (501c3).

How can you help?

We would love to have you partner with us in serving the children in foster care in East Tennessee and the families supporting them. Your families, organizations, businesses, and churches can help in the following ways:

- Bring a group to help sort donations

- Host one of our donation barrels at your business or church

- Participate in our “Host-A-Tree” fundraiser during the holidays

- Host a donation drive for diapers and wipes

- Donate financially to help cover costs of larger items such as beds and mattresses

- Donate financially to help cover monthly expenses

For more information on Compassion Closet, please visit our website – compassioncloset.com or e-mail info@compassioncloset.com. Thank you for your continued support as we serve here in East Tennessee!