Free clothing for school-age DeKalb County children in low-income families

DeKALB – Family Service Agency of DeKalb County is using its Community Action Program to provide free, new clothing to DeKalb County school-age children whose families live at or below 125% of the federal poverty guidelines.

“It’s why we all went into this line of work — to see smiles on kids’ and parents’ faces and know they have one less thing to worry about, it makes the job and the stress worth it for everybody on our team,” said Family Service Agency’s Director of Community Programming and Outreach, Rylie Loucks-Kues.

Families participating in the program shop on Amazon and then send Family Service Agency of DeKalb County a wish-list. The families are allocated $40 for a pair of shoes, $40 for a winter coat, and $125 for clothing per child, which can include socks, underwear, shirts and pants.

“It’s whatever the family wants,” Loucks-Kues said. “We kind of encourage them to be sensible and get as much for the amount of money as we’re offering but it’s really up to the family on what they choose.”

Loucks-Kues said the agency has been overwhelmed, in a positive way, by the response to the initiative. She said the program was born out of a need to spend remaining funds from a Community Service Block Grant.

“We had some leftover funds that we had to utilize for something in the community and we saw a need for school supplies, clothing and hygiene products within the county,” Loucks-Kues said, “so that’s kind of where we went with it.”

To participate in the program the family must reside somewhere within DeKalb County, the children of the family must be enrolled in grade school, Kindergarten through 12th grade, and the family’s income needs should be at or below 125% of the federal poverty guidelines.

A household of two needs an annual income at or below $18,310 to be eligible for the program. Households of three need to have an annual income less than $23,030 and households of four need to have an annual income of $27,750 or less to be eligible. If there are five members of the household, the annual income must be at or below $32,470 and a household of six cannot make more than $37,190 in a year to be eligible.