How Cardy’s Closet Meets Students’ Needs Beyond the Classroom

The Maumee office of Ohio Virtual Academy (OHVA) doesn’t look like a warehouse. Yet tucked into its corners, plastic totes rise in towers, filled with clothes, hygiene kits, and school supplies. It might seem like clutter to the untrained eye, but for the hundreds of children they benefit, it’s something closer to a lifeline.

The initiative—named Cardy’s Closet after the school’s mascot—exists to make sure OHVA’s most vulnerable students have what they need to thrive.

The Closet started in December 2022 with a small grant. OHVA staff members Amanda Beck and Charlotte Rogier used the money to stock clothing and essentials they could ship directly to families in need. “We always knew the need was there,” Beck says. “The grant finally gave us a way to start.”

What began with a few boxes has since grown into a statewide operation that now serves approximately 300 students every year.

Redefining Homelessness

For the OHVA students facing it, homelessness rarely involves living on the street. It might mean staying in a hotel after an eviction, doubling up with friends or relatives, or sleeping in a camper without running water. The instability is constant, and it makes school hard to sustain.

The McKinney-Vento Act federally guarantees children in these situations can remain enrolled in school. Cardy’s Closet helps meet those students’ needs beyond the classroom. Every McKinney-Vento student at OHVA receives a backpack and a hygiene essentials kit at the start of the year. Clothing shipments follow throughout the year, with items tailored to each family’s request.

“If one child is homeless, the rest of the family is, too,” Rogier explains. That means boxes often include items for siblings and parents alongside the enrolled student.

How Cardy’s Closet Works

Donations to Cardy’s Closet arrive from staff and community members throughout the year, and Beck and Rogier sort through them by hand. Clothing that fits the program’s needs stays, while other items are re-donated. Anything less than clean is taken home to wash. “If I wouldn’t put it on my own child, it doesn’t get sent out,” Beck says.

Some needs never change. Shoes, socks, and underwear are the most requested items, and they must be new. One winter, Beck spotted a pallet of children’s coats on clearance and bought them all. Within weeks, nearly every coat had been shipped to a student.

Serving families across 88 counties means navigating unpredictable logistics. Shipping to remote towns often costs more than the contents of the package. Hotels sometimes refuse deliveries, so Beck and Rogier often reroute boxes through UPS access points or rely on staff across the state to hand-deliver items.

“You just get creative,” Rogier says. “If a student needs clothes, we’ll find a way to get them there.”

A Weight Lifted

Cardy’s Closet is part of a broader family resource effort at OHVA, but it has taken on a life of its own. The program continues to run on donations and the persistence of staff members who see the difference new clothes and basic hygiene products can make.

“When a student opens a box and sees clean clothes, new shoes, a backpack ready for school, they know someone cared enough to make sure they had what they needed.” says Beck. “That’s one less thing to carry. That means they can focus on learning.”

Steady supplies of shoes, socks, undergarments, and other clothing items remain at the top of Beck and Rogier’s wish list. If you would like to make a donation, items can be sent directly to the OHVA headquarters at the following address: 

Attn: Cary’s Closet

1690 Woodlands Dr

STE 100,

Maumee, OH 43537

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