Get To Know Us
Our Mission
To serve women, children, and individuals from all walks of life by providing high-quality clothing and personal care items during times of hardship. This includes supporting those emerging from domestic violence situations, children in foster care, and families impacted by fire, loss, or other unexpected emergencies throughout Wayne County, Ohio, and surrounding areas.
The Beginning
Our founder, Maralee Martin, carried a vision in her heart that she couldn’t ignore, a deep desire to serve those in need and partner with local organizations making a difference in the community. In 2020, with the help of a few dedicated friends, The Caring Closet was formed. That first year, the organization was able to fill five closets for women and children transitioning out of Julia’s Place, the domestic abuse shelter at OneEighty in Wooster.
As the mission grew, The Boutique came to life in February 2022. It was created not only to help generate income from our abundance to purchase essential items for those we serve, but also to offer a welcoming thrift boutique experience. The vision was to create a space where individuals from all walks of life could feel valued and cared for while discovering beautiful, affordable items.
The Boutique is unique in that it is largely donation-based, allowing shoppers to give what they can in fairness to both the donor and the individuals we serve continuing a cycle of generosity, dignity, and community support.
Since Then
The Caring Closet has grown into a trusted community partner, now collaborating with approximately 20 local organizations to serve individuals and families across Wayne County and surrounding areas.
We operate as the CCHO dedicated closet located upstairs within our boutique. We provide clothing, new shoes, suitcases, pillows, towels, and other essential items to support the children and families we serve.
We also maintain emergency foster placement suitcases, each packed with approximately seven outfits along with other essential items, prepared to support children during urgent and unexpected foster placements.
We are also proud partners with The Pregnancy Care Center, where clients can earn “bucks” through parenting classes and use them to shop at our facility.
In addition, we have supported students referred by school personnel with clothing, shoes, bathing suits, Christmas trees, gifts, and other essentials to meet both everyday and seasonal needs.
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Through partnerships with Children’s Services, AnaZao, One-Eighty Substance Abuse Services, and many other local organizations, we continue to provide for clients in moments of need ensuring dignity, care, and support are always within reach.
Whats next....
At The Caring Closet, we believe every community deserves to feel seen, supported, and loved. That’s why we are incredibly excited to announce the next step in our journey a second boutique location coming to downtown Shreve: The Caring Closet Boutique Too.
What began as a few conversations, meaningful connections, and prayers quickly turned into an opportunity we simply couldn’t ignore. Thanks to the incredible hearts of local community supporters Chuck and Patty V., this new chapter is becoming a reality. Sometimes when you pray for direction, the answer looks even better than you imagined and this opportunity is exactly that for us.
Located beside He Brews Coffee and near “The Gathering Place,” this new boutique will allow us to expand our reach beyond Smithville and Wooster to better serve families and individuals throughout the Shreve community.
This boutique will be more than a store. It will be a welcoming place where joy, hope, dignity, and encouragement are shared freely. Just like our Smithville location, the boutique will provide affordable clothing and accessories while also helping fund the mission of The Caring Closet. We want this to be a trusted, community-centered space where relationships are built, stories are shared, and people feel cared for.
While we already provide clothing and essential items daily through partnerships with more than 20 local organizations, having a storefront in Shreve allows us to connect with the community in a more personal and hands-on way. We hope to create opportunities for gatherings, encouragement, and service alongside our neighbors and community partners.
As we prepare for this next step, we are asking for continued prayers, volunteers, encouragement, and support. Launching a second location is a big leap of faith, but we believe deeply in the impact this space can have on the community.
We are so grateful for every person who has walked alongside us so far, and we cannot wait to welcome you into this exciting new beginning. More details are still to come — and we hope you’ll join us for every step of the journey.