{"id":4406,"date":"2026-09-20T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bloomministries.org\/swap\/?page_id=4406"},"modified":"2026-09-20T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T09:00:00","slug":"clothing-drives","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bloomministries.org\/swap\/clothing-drives\/","title":{"rendered":"Clothing for unhoused neighbors"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/g><\/svg><\/div>
<\/div>

Clothing drives \u00b7 Bloom Swap<\/p>

What a swap does not use still gets worn.<\/span> By a neighbor without a home.<\/em><\/h1><\/span>

Bloom Swap will run clothing drives with congregations and organizations in Salem and Portland, so that clothing reaches unhoused neighbors through the people who already serve them. A congregation that runs a drive will receive Bloom\u2019s bins and signage, collect for two weeks, and hand the rest to Bloom. No drive has been held yet; the first is being planned now.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Run a drive<\/span><\/svg><\/a>Give clothes<\/span><\/svg><\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/span><\/span>
<\/span><\/span>Salem and Portland<\/span><\/span><\/div>
<\/span><\/span>Bins supplied<\/span><\/span><\/div>
<\/span><\/span>Nothing sold<\/span><\/span><\/div>
<\/span><\/span>First drive planned<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>

What a drive is<\/p>

A clothing drive in Portland or Salem, run with Bloom.<\/h2>

A drive gathers clothing from many people at once, and sends it somewhere a swap cannot reach.<\/p><\/header>\n

A Bloom Swap is a room of racks that anyone may walk into. Some people cannot walk into it. A neighbor living outside, or moving between shelters, needs a coat and dry socks this week, not a date two months away. Clothing drives are how Bloom Swap will reach them.<\/p>\n

Clothing will reach those neighbors from two places. The first is what swaps do not use: after a swap, what nobody takes returns to Bloom\u2019s storage, and part of it will go out through drives instead of waiting for the next rack. The second is the drive itself: a congregation or organization collects from its own people, Bloom sorts what comes in, and it goes out through an organization that already serves unhoused neighbors. Everything is given. Nothing is sold.<\/p>\n

To run one, use the host form. The host form on the Host page<\/a> has a \u201cclothing drive\u201d choice: pick \u201cRun a clothing drive\u201d, or \u201cBoth\u201d if you would host a swap as well. It is the same form a congregation uses to host a swap, and the same people read it.<\/p><\/div><\/section>

Five steps<\/p>

How a drive will work. Two weeks of bins.<\/em><\/h2>

This is the plan for the first drives. It is written in the future tense because no drive has been held yet.<\/p><\/header>

  1. 01<\/span>

    Bins arrive<\/h3>

    Bloom will bring labeled bins and signage to your building. The signage will say what the drive takes and what it cannot, so your people know before they fill a bag.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>

  2. 02<\/span>

    Two weeks of giving<\/h3>

    Your congregation or organization will collect for two weeks. Announce it however your people usually hear about things.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>

  3. 03<\/span>

    Pickup<\/h3>

    Bloom will collect the bins at the end of the two weeks. Nothing will be left in your building.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>

  4. 04<\/span>

    Sorting<\/h3>

    Every piece will be checked against the same standard as a swap: clean, whole and ready to wear. What cannot be worn will be set aside for textile recycling, not handed to a neighbor.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>

  5. 05<\/span>

    Distribution<\/h3>

    Clothing will go out through an organization that already serves unhoused neighbors, named on this site only with its consent.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li><\/ol><\/div><\/section>

    Who the clothes are for<\/p>

    The people it reaches, and the people who reach them.<\/h2>

    The organizations that already serve unhoused neighbors know who needs what, and when. A drive puts clothing in their hands rather than asking anyone to come to Bloom.<\/p><\/header>\n

    That is why distribution runs through them. A person living outside should not have to find a swap, arrive while it is open, or explain themselves to get a coat. The organization they already trust hands it over, the way it hands over everything else.<\/p>\n

    Organizations that receive clothing are named on this site only when they have said yes to being named. None has been named yet.<\/p>\n

    Clothing is one need among many. If the people your congregation serves include older adults or disabled neighbors who need more than a coat, Bloom\u2019s senior and disability services<\/a> are on the main site, and like everything at Bloom they are free.<\/p><\/div><\/section>

    The swap calendar<\/p>

    If you host a swap as well.<\/h2>

    Choose \u201cBoth\u201d on the host form and your drive can sit alongside a swap. This is the calendar a swap keeps, from the day dates are set to the impact note a month after.<\/p><\/header>

    <\/span><\/span>
    1. <\/span>T\u221260<\/span>

      Dates set together<\/h3>

      At least sixty days out. Once a date is on the calendar it does not move.<\/p>Together<\/span><\/div><\/li>

    2. <\/span>T\u221245<\/span>

      The kit ships<\/h3>

      Signage, table tents, intake sheets and the access card arrive at your door.<\/p>Bloom<\/span><\/div><\/li>

    3. <\/span>T\u221230<\/span>

      Volunteers confirmed<\/h3>

      Your two or more, trained with the playbook; Bloom volunteers fill gaps.<\/p>Host<\/span><\/div><\/li>

    4. <\/span>T\u221214<\/span>

      The announcement<\/h3>

      To the Bloom list and the region. Share the template text in your own channels.<\/p>Bloom<\/span><\/div><\/li>

    5. <\/span>T\u22127<\/span>

      The room plan<\/h3>

      Racks, the changing corner, the quiet corner, the greeter\u2019s table: agreed on one page.<\/p>Together<\/span><\/div><\/li>

    6. <\/span>T\u22121<\/span>

      Delivery and set-up<\/h3>

      Racks arrive sorted by size and style. Bloom sets the room.<\/p>Bloom<\/span><\/div><\/li>

    7. <\/span>Day<\/span>

      The swap<\/h3>

      Greet, re-hang, point to the quiet corner. No photos, no questions, no one at the door.<\/p>Host<\/span><\/div><\/li>

    8. <\/span>T+1<\/span>

      Pickup<\/h3>

      Everything leaves. What was not taken returns to storage for the next swap or a drive.<\/p>Bloom<\/span><\/div><\/li>

    9. <\/span>+30<\/span>

      The impact note<\/h3>

      What went out, counted from the ledger, in writing, within thirty days.<\/p>Bloom<\/span><\/div><\/li><\/ol>

      Bloom<\/span> does it \u00b7 Host<\/span> does it \u00b7 Together<\/span> we agree it<\/p><\/div>\n

      A drive on its own is planned with you when you write. The host form asks when you could run it.<\/p><\/div><\/section>