Locker #505 is a community clothing bank whose main purpose is properly outfitting the school children of a growing city so that they can actively participate in their education and life as future citizens of Albuquerque.
Clothing banks for our kids have always been a concern here in Bernalillo County. As early as 1950, concerned parents, teachers, and administrators founded the Bernalillo County Council of PTA Clothing Bank. When that operation closed its doors permanently in 2013, the founder of Locker #505 stepped up to take over an important and necessary community resource.
Kim Kerschen is that person. With a wealth of experience and a storied background of giving back to the city and its learning communities, Kershen inherited a role that suits her style as it continues to provide necessary assistance to families throughout our amazing city.
Albuquerque City Lifestyle Magazine sat down with Kershen to talk about the mission of Locker #505, her vision for students in New Mexico, and the future of a local non-profit that continues to demonstrate excellence and compassion.
Rudolfo Carrillo: Could you please tell our readers about Locker #505, its history, your vision, and how it helps families in Albuquerque?
Kim Kerschen: Locker Room #505 started 13 years ago. It began when another clothing bank in town that had been around for 63 years, the BCCPTA clothing bank, closed. It was pretty obvious that a resource like that was important to the city and the surrounding area. I was involved with the old clothing bank a little bit, and so I kind of knew what to do. A few people came to me and said, " You really need to do this, because we really need this resource." So I began by investigating; I was familiar with nonprofits. I had been the state PTA president, and PTAs are nonprofits. I had been a Little League president, and so I was familiar with that paperwork, because Little Leagues are nonprofits as well. So I looked into starting a nonprofit. Basically, we started without a penny, without a hanger, without a stitch of clothing, or any employees. It was basically me, myself, and I. It happened all pretty quickly.
What happened after you decided to move forward with that vision?
Things just really fell into place. It was interesting. We were very fortunate. One of the big things was having a space to do it in. Mayor Richard Berry actually helped us and gave us a space, his own private space, for one year, rent-free. That was a huge step in getting us off the ground. Once we put the word out to the schools that Locker #505 was open, it was pretty quick; we started seeing kids and hearing from the community, getting donations. We depend greatly on gently used clothing donations, after all. Anyway, we very quickly started getting clothing donations and other support.
How has your organization grown since you got it started in 2013?
Our first year, we saw 421 kids, which was pretty good for our very first year. Last year, this past school year, we saw 4,716 kids. So we’ve grown just a little bit over the last 13 years.
What sorts of issues are currently having an effect on your mission?
We’ve seen rising costs in the last several years. The shoes that we bought four years, five years ago, we’re paying double the price for them now. So I think that inflation, obviously, hits families pretty hard. Our state is way up there with child poverty, lack of child wellness, and related issues.
How do you gauge your success in the midst of such cultural upheaval?
Students can’t learn if they’re not there. I think with this, with clothing, if we take care of this piece of things, if you have a really tight budget and you’re living day to day, I think if we can take care of the clothing, it does two things. One, it frees up a little bit of money for milk, gas, and other necessities. Those are things people are really struggling with right now: grocery prices, gasoline prices are through the roof. So any help we provide with clothing really offsets a family’s economics on a day-to-day basis. The other thing I think it does for the parent who’s feeling stressed, maybe frustrated, is that our process is uplifting for the students at the heart of our program. They have shoes on their feet, and their clothes fit. They can go to school and be proud of themselves and nurture their own self-pride.
That’s amazing. How would a family of children, a mother and father, or mother or father, or the people who care for children, how would they engage with your services?
So they do have to get a referral, but the referral can be done by simply talking to your counselor at a school and saying, I need a referral to Locker #505. They send a referral to us. The referral includes about 10 questions. It’s very simple; contact information, name, et cetera. Then we take it from there, and we call the parents. We schedule an appointment. Then, we discuss with the parents what the program involves. We work with CYFD, so certainly social workers can refer to us. We work with some of the health agencies that are case managers or working with families in other ways. We work with APD for families that are dealing with domestic violence and have been left with minimal clothing.
What’s the best way to find out more about your programs and the help you provide the Albuquerque community?
The easiest is by visiting our website at locker505.org. There is lots of information there! Obviously, the referrals are not on there, but we can tell them how they can get a referral if they give us a phone call or send us an email. if they wanna give donations, our donation hours are on the site, too. So all that information is on there; it’s a pretty well-developed website.
Outfitting the school children of a growing city so that they can actively participate in their education and life as future citizens of Albuquerque.