Community Closet Event in Hollywood
“Ooooohh,” she cooed. “I could wear this top with shorts and this hat on the beach with my boyfriend. Now I just need the boyfriend.”
— Shakira, resident at The Mark Twain
On her smiling face, I saw the same look I see in my clients’ eyes when new clothes give us the chance to see ourselves in a new way. That flicker of inspiration can be exactly what we need to make a vision feel real, no matter how much money we do or do not have.
I met Shakira in the small upstairs community room of the pink 1920’s former hotel, where I joined Heart Forward LA for their first community closet day. I brought racks of clothing and an open heart.
Shakira lives at the Mark Twain, but not for long. She’s working and saving for her own apartment.
The Mark Twain is the first interim housing site for Hollywood 2.0, the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health’s pilot project to provide comprehensive, community-based care and services to people experiencing mental illness and homelessness in the Hollywood community.
Someone put on a bitchin’ DJ set, and suddenly an hour and a half had flown by. We were condensing everything down to one rack by the end. Before we had even left the building, we were already hearing requests for the next community closet. We were told it was the best-attended event they’d ever had.
It humbled me to help offer something as simple and human as the experience of shopping without having to worry about how to pay for it, something people of every income level think about. Of course, we know it’s about more than shopping.
Times of transition are exactly when we need room to experiment. Getting dressed can be an act of autonomy. It can be a way of shaping identity, reconnecting to self-worth, and imagining what comes next. Every one of us deserves access to that.
To learn more:
www.heartforwardla.org
Update: Shakira has her own apartment as of 3 months later :)
K.C.