ORANGEBURG, S.C. — The Closet of Hope is opening its doors in Orangeburg County to offer support to local foster families.
The nonprofit organization supports the foster community throughout the Lowcountry.
There was a formal ribbon cutting of the new facility at the Orangeburg County DSS office on Wednesday.
“We decided to expand here specifically because Orangeburg doesn’t have any other resources. They have a high kinship population which is where a family member takes custody of a child and during that process it can be very challenging for families especially when they’re on a fixed income," said Closet of Hope COO Alyssa Blitch.
The closet of hope is partnering with Orangeburg County DSS to offer clothes, shoes, diapers, beds, and other essential items to foster and kinship families.
According to the Department of Social Services, there are 113 foster children in Orangeburg County. That's about three percent of the 3,800 foster children across the state.
Although that number has gone down in recent years, the agency says there is still a significant need.
“The need is great for foster parents and support for our teen population or large sibling groups. Why we’re seeing that decrease is because we have a lot of kin caregivers stepping up and saying hey I’ll take on family," said Department of Social Services state director Michael Leach.
Though the need is great, the availability of resources has been limited. That's until now.
“We come in contact with lots of families everyday, right, and mauve they just need clothing or just need a bunk bed or just need a bed, and the closet of hope and the work they do can really help with that," said Leach.