Staff photo by Hannah LaClaire Maria Barry is one of the point people who helps run Catie's Closet at Ledge Street School.

Editor’s Note: This is the fourth in an eight-part series about Catie’s Closet locations throughout the Nashua School District.

Catie’s Closet at Ledge Street School is more discreet than some of the others: visitors have to go through a classroom and the food pantry to reach it.

Whether it’s for something small like a stick of deodorant and a pack of underwear, or something larger like outfitting the entire family in part through a special order, according to Maria Barry, a point person and home/school coordinator, it’s used several times per week.

“We have kids who do not want to come to school because they’re being teased … about their shabby clothes,” Barry said. “We don’t want a lack of clothing getting in the way of education, or getting in the way of self esteem.”

Working with Catie’s Closet over the last two years has helped entire groups of people, according to Danielle Boutin, an ELL teacher and point person: refugees.

Prior to the closet, she and other teachers tried to coordinate their own clothing

donations, which was a “massive undertaking.”

“I don’t know how we did it before,” Boutin said.

When refugees first arrive, the agencies will give them clothing, but often it is only what is available, and is not enough to last them, maybe one or two pairs of pants and a few shirts, depending on the season.

“These kids are coming from another country and don’t speak the common language, the last thing they want is to stand out for how they look,” Boutin said.

The special orders have also allowed Ledge Street to try to accommodate cultural preferences for parents and teenages, like long skirts and high necklines.

“We want to be respectful of that,” Boutin said, adding that helping these families also helps them get to know the school and build community relationships.

Because of the high need, Boutin and Barry try to be mindful of who is using the closet and for what purpose.

“We don’t want to have that one kid who spills milk on his pants and then word spreads and soon our closet is depleted,” Barry said. The school nurse is able to fill that need.

Boutin shared the story of a boy who desperately wanted a certain pair of sneakers that his parents had never been able to afford.

By a stroke of luck, that same kind of sneaker, in his size, happened to be included in a special order the family received.

He was so happy that all he could do was open and close the box, not putting on the shoes, just wanting to look at them, Boutin said. He could not believe they were really his.

Hannah LaClaire can be reached at 594-1243 or hlaclaire@nashuatelegraph.com.