With 40+ public schools in Charlotte-Mecklenburg requiring school uniforms, thousands of families face extra expenses each fall. It can be challenging to outfit each student in the exact colors and types of clothing specified by their individual schools, especially in those fast-growing stages of childhood.
With your help, Crisis Assistance Ministry continues to fill this need by providing uniform items free of charge to families living in Mecklenburg County. Many visit the Free Store for essential clothing and household goods. Others are served through Partner Agencies who are already engaged in their own communities.
Partnerships Reach Into Neighborhoods
Beginning in July, Champion House of Care Project One (CHOC Project One) held 11 back-to-school events providing backpacks, school supplies, and uniforms to neighborhood families. The agency, which engages young adults with developmental disabilities in community activities, is particularly focused on serving families living in hotels. CHOC Project One staff and clients planned and executed the events and also distributed these critical items through Title 1 schools, neighborhood churches, and the Center of Hope Shelter for Women and Children.
School uniforms were also the order-of-the-day for the Urban League‘s August “First Day Ready” Back-to-School Event & Resource Fair where families shopped free-of-charge for school uniform items right in their neighborhood. The event also featured haircuts, health screenings, vision screenings, and an opportunity to talk with school officials as children prepared to head back to in-person learning.
Hundreds of school uniforms were distributed during the Urban League’s neighborhood event. 
CMS Board of Education Vice-Chair Thelma Byers-Bailey even stopped by.
Your generosity also makes it possible for organizations like Charlotte Rescue Mission and Communities in Schools to pick up uniforms, backpacks, and other essentials for families they serve. Partnerships like these help meet urgent needs for families throughout Mecklenburg County while removing the potential barriers of transportation and time away from work.
Charlotte Rescue Mission’s Children’s Program Coordinator Para Black shopped for school uniforms and backpacks for children served there. 
This batch of backpacks were provided by Elevation Outreach to assist area families heading back to school.
Want to Help?
School uniforms are needed year-round as children grow rapidly and clothing wears out. You can help meet that need with donations of sizes 4T and up, especially husky and plus sizes. Middle schoolers often wear adult sizes, too.
Check your children’s closets. Gently used items can easily find a new home with families who shop here free of charge for essentials like school clothes.
Grab an extra. On your next shopping trip, grab an extra shirt or pair of khakis for another child who might not have the budget to do the same. There’s even an easy-to-use shopping guide to help you out.
Shop from anywhere. Visit our Wish List to purchase needed items and have them shipped directly to Crisis Assistance Ministry.
New… 
…& gently used uniforms 
Can you fill this hanger?
You can drop off donations at our convenient Donation Drive-Thru at 500-A Spratt Street in Charlotte. However you choose to help out, our donations will be distributed, free of charge, to families right here in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.