Jesenia Wright and Erica Puleo have each started their own clothing drive in Utica, driven by a shared idea: feeling good about the clothes you’re wearing is an emotional game changer.
“It improves your self-confidence,” Wright said. “It improves your self-esteem.”
Both Wright and Puleo saw distinct needs in their own communities for donated clothing. Wright’s GivingsCloset grew from her desire to give back to the community that provided resources for her as a child. Puleo’s CNYQueerCloset offers trans, gender-nonconforming and other LGTBQ+ people a chance to try on clothing that fits their identity.
“It’s a beauty-driven society and part of what we equate to beauty is clothing,” Puleo said. “And there’s no reason that should be inaccessible to people.”
GivingsCloset and giving back to the community
Jesenia Wright will proudly say she was born and raised in Utica. Growing up, her family relied on community resources such as Hope House, Salvation Army and Operation Sunshine, she said. Now, she wants to give back.
“That’s the drive behind it,” she said. “The community was there when I was growing up.”
The organization started in 2016, with Wright learning from word of mouth of people who needed clothes and donating items she had at home — her own clothes or items her two sons had outgrown.
A lot has changed since then. Wright, 31, self-described as a wife, social worker and mother, received her master’s degree in social work and has had her third child. Her attic space is packed full with donated clothing to share. Most of her communication is over the GivingsCloset Facebook page, though she still often hears from people personally.
The organization was certified as a nonprofit organization in June and now has a board of directors, she said.
Wright’s next step is to find a new venue. She wants patrons to have the experience of shopping for clothing — filling up a bag with the items they need for free.
“I feel like I’ve outgrown the attic space,” she said.
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GivingsCloset’s will also hold its first clothing drive from 1-4 p.m. Sunday, July 31, at the Veterans Outreach Center at 726 Washington St. in Utica.
The event will allow participants to find clothing of their choice, or fill out a form requesting a certain item in a certain size if it’s not available, Wright said.
How to donate to GivingsCloset
GivingsCloset can be reached by messaging its Facebook page or calling Wright at 315-520-8431. She’ll reply within 24 hours and arrange a time to either pick up the clothing or have it dropped off at one of her two drop-off locations in Utica, she said. The same process can be followed to accept donations.
Wright said she accepts all sizes of clothing from any gender, but asks that items be gently used: clean with no stains or holes.
“I want the people who receive the donations to feel good about the clothing they’re in,” she said.
Growing up, Wright’s family didn’t have a car to access some resources as easily, which is why she offers to pick up and drop off donations herself. She noted that the service is available to anyone in need. As a social worker, she’s seen the barriers some face when receiving aid.
“I’m not going to make you fill out an application to prove you’re low-income,” she said.
CNYQueerCloset and filling a community’s need
Clothing and fashion is one of Erica Puleo’s preferred ways to connect to people, and it also holds a certain connection to their own queer identity.
“Being nonbinary and coming to terms with that, and being more open and confident in it — and not being afraid to talk about it — really opened up love for clothing and fashion,” Puleo said, who is nonbinary and queer, and uses they/she pronouns. “I always had the barrier of that ‘well, that’s not my style, that’s not who I am, I can’t dress like that.’”
Now, Puleo dresses however they like, never toning it down and never worrying about being overdressed for an occasion.
Puleo, 21, created a clothing program during a 2021 internship at the State University of New York College at Brockport, after studying LGBTQ+ resources in the SUNY system. After graduating in December of last year, they returned to their hometown of Sauquoit.
“I needed to find my community,” said Puleo.
Puleo took a job at The Compound, a sandwich shop owned by Anna and Sharrone Sofer.
“I really just loved the environment they were creating,” she said of the LGBTQ-owned business.
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As Pride month approached, Puleo approached the Sofers about hosting an event, and launched CNYQueerCloset’s first clothing swap on June 25 during Utica’s Pride celebration, filling a table with clothing in a space above The Compound.
“This doesn’t have to be a one-time thing,” Puleo recalled thinking. “It can be an all-the-time thing; it can be a legitimate, non-profit business.”
The queer community has long been a contributor to fashion, Puleo said. But a higher number of LGBTQ also live in poverty, she noted. A report by the Williams Institute found LGBT people collectively have a poverty rate of 22%, much higher than the rate for cisgender straight people of 16%.
“I personally count the cost of clothing somewhat into the cost of living,” Puleo said, later adding, “Your clothing and how you can express yourself deeply contributes to your overall happiness.”
How to donate to CNYQueerCloset
Those interested in either donating or receiving can message CNYQueerCloset on Instagram. Puleo will take down size and clothing preferences to create a curated bag of clothing; anything someone doesn’t want they can return.
Puleo also asks donated clothing be clean and washed (or if the donor doesn’t have the means to wash it to let them know of this), and free of holes, rips and stains. Undergarments must still have the tags, or (in the specific case of bras, binders and swimwear) be only worn once.
Like Wright, Puleo’s eventual goal is also to set up a storefront. For now, the Compound serves as a temporary drop-off and pickup location, she said. They also will donate to anyone who reaches out.
“I want to make sure it’s accessible for everybody,” they said, later adding, “Just because it’s called ‘QueerCloset,’ doesn’t mean you have to identify as queer.”
H. Rose Schneider is the public safety reporter for the Observer-Dispatch. Email Rose at hschneider@gannett.com.
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