Long Island, NY · Founded by students
The clothing industry makes far more than anyone can wear, and perfectly usable garments are thrown away every day. We collect them, wash and sort them, and deliver them free to women and children — through shelters, schools, hospitals, and drives.
TO BE HOUSED
AND CLOTHED
DO NOT DISCARD
The problem we work on
Overproduction fills landfills with garments that were never worn out. A few miles away, families are going without a winter coat or a clean change of clothes. The clothing already exists. It's just in the wrong place.
Care instructions
Five steps, in order, for every garment we take in.
Clothing comes in from neighbors, schools, and community drives — anything still wearable.
Every item is laundered. Nothing leaves us in a condition we wouldn't want to receive.
Dried and checked over. Anything stained or worn through is separated for textile recycling.
Folded and organized by size, season, and age group, then boxed so it can go straight out.
Brought to shelters, schools, hospitals, and drives — free, on a schedule that works for them.
For organizations
There's no cost, no minimum, and no paperwork on your end. Tell us who you serve and roughly what you need, and we'll tell you what we can put together and when we can bring it. If we don't have it yet, we'll run a drive for it.
A student on our team will reply within a few days.
For donors
You don't need to wash or sort anything first — that's our job. You just need to be honest about what's still wearable. One clean, complete bag helps more than five we have to throw half of away.
Drop off or pick up: We arrange every handoff one at a time, so there's nowhere you need to drive to. Send us a note about what you have and roughly where you are, and we'll sort out a time and place that works — including coming to collect it if the bags are heavy.
Run a drive: Schools, offices, and teams can host a collection box. We'll provide the box and the signage.
Who we are
Our mission is to give free, comfortable clothing to people who are struggling to provide for themselves and the people they love.
To Be Housed and Clothed was founded by rising seniors at Brooklyn High School of the Arts and operates out of Long Island. We're small on purpose right now — everything is washed, folded, and delivered by the people who started this. As we grow, we want the same standard of care to reach further, so that anyone who needs clothing has somewhere to get it.
The founders sorting donations
A delivery arriving at a partner site
Out of the Closet
What we're learning about clothing waste, who we've been working with, and what's coming out of the closet this month.
Post image — 16:10
Our fall coat drive filled two classrooms before we had anywhere to put it. Here's how we sorted it, and what we'd do differently next time.
Read the postPost image — 16:10
Most clothing dropped in a bin never reaches a person nearby. We traced the path a bag usually takes, and why we decided to do it ourselves instead.
Read the postPost image — 16:10
A request we didn't expect turned into our most useful delivery of the year. On listening to partners instead of guessing what they need.
Read the postGet in touch
Whether you have a program that needs clothing or a closet you need to clear, the next step is the same — send us a note and we'll take it from there.