It's something most people barely think about, but Misty Barry knows from experience what a difference a simple set of clean clothes can make in a child's life and is now trying to make foster kids a little more comfortable one item at a time.



In April, the Ball Ground, Georgia-based foster mom got a call at midnight on a Sunday night about two boys and two girls who needed a foster home ASAP." When the kids showed up they were in need of a bath. Since the kids had just the clothes on their backs, Barry had only her own 6-year-old and 9-year-old sons' clean underwear to offer the girls. " I thought, how horrific. I need to get some clothes in the house," she tells Yahoo Shine.

That experience led to Barry put out a call for clothing donations on Facebook in April and within a month she had enough clothes to fill the single room she had dedicated to storing the items, dubbed Grace's Closet. Within four months, donations filled the basement and, in June, two local elementary schools donated all of their lost and found items to Grace's Closet - over 90 garbage bags filled with clothes, including 450 winter jackets. According to Barry, those coats have now taken over her attic. "My husband put up some poles as temporary hanging racks," she says, noting that friends have also volunteered to store donations. In addition to clothing, Barry collects basic toiletries, such as toothpaste and toothbrushes, as well as baby gear like car seats and toddler beds.

According to Barry, it's important that foster families have quick and easy access to clothing and basic necessities. When kids are dropped off they often have nothing, she says, and while families are given a small stipend to buy clothing, they must first pay out of pocket and be reimbursed - which can take up to eight months. For a single-income family, like the Barry's, that can be hard on the family budget. Since April, more than 50 families have contacted Barry for donations, often hearing about Grace's Closet via word of mouth or through a foster care caseworker. The name, Grace, is in honor of the child she and her husband, Chris, had hoped to adopt. When the adoption didn't work out, the couple decided to become foster parents. "It's because of Grace that we started down this path," says Barry. Since becoming foster parents, the Barrys have cared for 26 kids, including a 5-month-old and 9-year-old who are living with the family now.

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When local news station 11 Alive in Atlanta got wind of Barry's good deed, they asked Home Depot to donate an 8x8 shed that could be used as storage for all the donations. But, according to Barry, when the representative from Home Depot came to the house this week and saw the amount of clothing and baby gear in the house, he realized that the shed was too small. "He took pictures of the donations and is asking his supervisor if they can donate a bigger shed," says Barry, who is still waiting on the final decision.

Regardless of the challenge of storing all of the items she's received, Barry is still happy to accept more. "Foster parents need those items that most people just drop off at Goodwill," she says. "The more awareness I can bring, the better off these kids will be."

