Passion & Purpose: Winter 2024/2025
The Chaos Closet supports foster kids with essentials and more
DeeDee Button: “I didn’t want kids to really associate coming in here with hand-me-downs. I wanted it to feel like you had the dignity of going to a store, just without the exchange of money.”
The Chaos Closet proves that a little care can make a big difference. The boutique-like stop off the square in West Plains provides clothing, essentials and a few extras for kids who reside in foster homes.
“Kids in foster care in Missouri get an annual clothing allowance, but it doesn’t provide everything that a kiddo is going to put on their body for an entire year,” says DeeDee Button, who founded the nonprofit with her husband, Ed.
The Buttons saw the need firsthand through kids they fostered. Efforts to save and pass along items grew from their home to a storage building and ultimately the colorful storefront that opened last year.
“I didn’t want kids to really associate coming in here with hand-me-downs,” DeeDee says of its cheery atmosphere. “I wanted it to feel like you had the dignity of going to a store, just without the exchange of money.”
Racks of clothing serve babies to teens. Larger items like beds are lent out, returned, sanitized and reused. Necessities like diapers and formula are found alongside other wares, like makeup and jewelry, that aren’t essential — but are important.
“This is the fun stuff to make them fit in with their peers a little more,” DeeDee says. “That’s all they want.”
Another item of need is new underwear. That mission is supported by the Community Foundation of West Plains Inc., which has granted funds to stock the closet’s shelves with all-new undergarments. In the process, DeeDee says, the CFO affiliate’s actions also raised awareness for the need — one that’s always there but not always top of mind.
“That funding has had this rippling effect out into the community, which is really great,” DeeDee says.
Who inspires you? Send your suggestions of individuals moving the needle in your community to Kaitlyn McConnell, the CFO’s writer in residence, at kmcconnell@cfozarks.org.
