She came to the Closet for her kids. She comes back for everyone else’s.

Connie was raising three children in foster care when someone told her about the Fostering Hope Closet. She came looking for something they needed.

While she was there, she asked, “I’m home every day. What do you need me to do?”

She came back the next day. And she kept coming back.

She knows what it’s like to walk into the Closet needing something. She’s done it.

She knows what it’s like to be a kid with no one in her corner. She was one.

So when a child walks through the door looking the way she used to look, she won’t let them leave without a smile.

“If I could have just had something to smile about once,” Connie says, “it would have meant everything.”

We sometimes think we need extra money, extra time, or a life that’s already figured out before we can help someone else.

But sometimes the person sorting the shelves is also someone who needs what’s on them.

In the Ozarks, this is what community looks like.

CARRY HOPE – DAY 8 OF 30
For 30 days in November, discover the people, the needs, and the ways this community responds.
Follow the 30-day challenge

What you can do

Spread awareness
Share this story and tag someone who has more to give than they think.
Learn
Read Connie’s full story, in her own words. Connie’s story
Volunteer
Come help at the Closet. Sort donations, help families shop, or ask what’s needed. Sign up
Give once
$50 helps keep the Closet doors open for the next family who walks in. Every gift this November is matched, so your $50 becomes $100. Give $50
Give monthly
$25 a month covers a background check for a new volunteer, so the next person who asks “What do you need me to do?” can get started. Give monthly

Carry Hope

For 30 days in November, we are sharing one story a day about a real challenge facing children and families in the Missouri Ozarks, what is being done about it, and how you can help carry it.

Read more Carry Hope stories →

Our Matching Partners

Thanks to these partners, $25,500 is waiting to match your gifts this November.

Dr. Dawn and Dean BarkerWillard QuarriesMartin's 1-Stop
Deputy and MizellMiller LawHenderson Heating and Cooling

Along with a generous donor who wishes to remain anonymous.

22994 Professional Dr.
     Lebanon, MO 65536

(417) 322-1862

info@live2givehope.org