The program is among the services offered through the nonprofit Heart of the City Lewisville, where Peters is associate director of operations. Grahams Totally Free Clothing, which launched in June, accepts donations of gently used clothing. Those items are then made available for free in a store-like atmosphere. Anyone can use the service as there are no qualifications or standards to meet.
“We try to set online appointments for the family or an individual to walk through, but we also accept walk-ins,” said Peters, who runs the clothes program. “They are greeted at the counter. We take just surface level information–name, number, address–ask them if there’s anything else that we could possibly help out with.”
After stepping into the store, Peters said, each person can take up to 10 pieces of women’s clothing, five pieces of children’s clothing, five pieces of men’s clothing, one pair of shoes and one accessory.
“We take donations on the first Saturday of every month, and we look through the clothes to make sure they are nice and stylish, things we would want to wear,” Peters said.
Grahams Totally Free Clothing is one of three programs offered at Heart of the City Lewisville. The nonprofit, started in 2019 by members of the Northview Baptist Church at its Lewisville campus, also offers life and skills coaching and has a farmers market food pantry.
“Our vision for this nonprofit began in 2009 but didn’t happen until 2019,” said Robert Veal, executive pastor at Northview Baptist Church and CEO of Heart of the City Lewisville.
Veal said his team focused on the food pantry and farmers market first and moved onto life skills coaching and free clothing after gaining traction. “Our mission is to serve and help others,” Veal said. “It’s all encompassing, and we have the ability with the way that we’re set up to help any family or individual that comes through here.”
Heart of the City Lewisville offers three programs:
- The Farmers Market Food Pantry is set up like a grocery store with a variety of uncooked foods that people can pick up. The pantry also sets up meal times and has an outdoor grab-and-go fridge for anyone who does not want to go inside.
- The life skills coaching program called THRIVE is designed to help people find jobs, receive marriage and family counseling, and pull themselves out from under the poverty line.
- Grahams Totally Free Clothing accepts donated clothes and other items that they offer for free to anyone who needs them in a store-like atmosphere.
Grahams Totally Free Clothing, 2021 N. Mill St., Lewisville. 972-824-6171. https://heartofthecitylewisville.com Hours: Tue. 2-6 p.m., Thu. 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Sat. 9-11 a.m.
