Harford County Teens Open Clothing Closet at Elementary School

Aberdeen, Md. – When seven-year-old Grace Callwood learned from family friend Jennifer Matthews that a family with two little girls had lost everything they owned in a fire, Callwood decided to give the children her brand-new back-to-school clothes.

That family sought help from Harford Family House, the county’s largest transitional housing program for families experiencing homelessness, and for several years since that 2011 donation, Callwood and a group of her friends and a host of adults who support them delivered brand new and gently-used clothes for every child living at Harford Family House.

She named the project “Threads of Hope;” a reminder to Callwood that although she had been diagnosed with Stage IV cancer around the same time the girls had moved in the transitional housing program, she could find hope by bringing hope to others.

To date, Callwood’s nonprofit, the We Cancerve Movement, Inc., which she started shortly after diagnosis, has donated more than 550 outfits as part of Threads of Hope, thanks to a long list of mostly private donors.

“I always dreamed that one day I’d be able to open a closet to help more children all year long,” said Callwood, now 17, and a junior at Edgewood High School’s Global Studies International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.

Her dream came true May 26 when she cut the ribbon on the Threads of Hope Clothing closet at Halls Cross Roads Elementary School in Aberdeen, Md. The school is located within walking distance of the Harford Family House.

The closet is free to school families and accessible by appointment with the school staff. Parents – and students – can select from items curated for kids by kids for everyday wear, awards assemblies, school concerts and picture day.

“Our school and community are very excited to receive the Threads of Hope Clothing Closet,” said Christine Douglas, principal, Halls Cross Roads Elementary School. ”It is very heartwarming to receive this amazing resource for our students from students.”

The closet is funded largely by the World of Children prize Callwood won in 2019 with support from national retailers IKEA, Jos. A. Bank Clothier, Under Armour and the Harford County area Amazon distribution center. Theo Rose, 17, also a student in Edgewood's GSIB magnet program, and Haley Richardson, 17, of Bel Air High School, who is a member of We Cancerve's all-youth board of advisors, helped set up the closet earlier this spring. The closet structures were built by Martelle and Janet Betters, parents for former advisor Jaydn Betters. Tiny Toes, a children's boutique once located on Main Street in Bel Air, donated and discounted several items to the closet. The branded curtains were made possible with support from Sunny's Cleaners in Abingdon and WeStitch Embroidery in Bel Air.

To donate new clothes, interested persons including retailers and overstock managers should contact We Cancerve at peoplewhocare@wecancerve.org.