Lori’s Closet grows as free clothing resource in FW
Published 7:30 am Saturday, November 29, 2025
Lori’s Closet started where a small sharing shelf in the breakroom at UPS met conversations about racial justice.
Today, Lori’s Closet is a free sharing closet of clothes and accessories that acts as a resource for the Federal Way community through the Black Equality Coalition (BEC).
Clothes are available for all ages, though namesake Lori Cooper said they are always looking for more donations of clothes for elementary and middle school age boys.
The closet and BEC are currently housed at the Family Life Center, located at 32275 32nd Ave. S. in Federal Way. Families are asked to fill out an interest form before stopping by at this link .
Families can stop by once every other month and each family member can receive, depending on inventory:
• 3 shirts
• 2 pants
• 1 sweatshirt
• 2 underwear
• 1 bra
• 2 socks
• 1 pair of shoes
• 1 coat
• 1 hat
• 2 accessories, only of 1 of each item (purse, jewelry, belt, etc.)
• 5 onesies
• 3 outfits
Clothes come from community donations, including out of season or unsold items from local clothing retailers. They are sorted by volunteers, including Cooper, who spend hours sorting, folding, and hanging clothing to get it ready for community members.
They have also been partnering with the Building Beyond Communities to host a resource fair, led by recent Mirror Hometown Hero Vicky Navarro.
Lori’s Closet is not the only place to provide free clothing resources, but these various resources do all work together. Lori’s Closet in particular often serves as a hub that can share clothes with other organizations for pop up or temporary clothing swap events, and take extra donations that other locations don’t have the space to store.
In a partnership with Communities In Schools for example, Lori’s Closet helped host a pop up event for youth.
The South King Tool Library holds a community clothing swap at least twice a year, including one in May and a recent one on Nov. 22.
Wayside United Church of Christ hosts a free gender-affirming closet tailored for the transgender community, but it is also open to anyone who is struggling to access clothing for a personal need, like a new job or an event.
Like other resource programs such as food banks, the free clothing can provide a little relief for families when expenses are high, Cooper said. The clothing can provide a self-esteem boost for youth and the closet also helps keep clothes out of the landfill.
It also builds community and fosters connection. Many community members are both donation givers and receivers and even volunteer their time as well. Although the closet has a goal of helping those who need it most, there are also no income limits on who counts as “in need” enough. Instead, it is a way for community members to directly share with one another without barriers and outside of transactional exchanges of money.
This closet is just one program of BEC, which has also sponsored back to school supply drives, Thanksgiving food drives, Adopt a Family programs for holiday gifts and the I Am Unstoppable mentoring program.
As BEC looks to the future, the plan is to shift away from direct service and more toward convening and coalition building to bring together the many organizations in Federal Way that are doing community work that positively impacts the Black community, especially youth.
Racial justice to community resources
The Black Equality Coalition (BEC) began in 2020 when Cooper and Curtis were coworkers, and the awareness of police violence against Black Americans reached new heights of national consciousness in the wake of the death of George Floyd and others.
Curtis led a silent protest to bring attention to the needs of Black employees in his workplace, including himself, who were struggling with fears for their safety and mental health impacts. This protest led to the creation of a committee at their workplace.
“First, we would just meet every Thursday to figure out how to solve some of these social justice issues and things of that nature,” Curtis said.
These conversations about social justice led to an exploration of how they could better take care of each other at work.
While the catalyst was a call to action to make sure that Black staff members were supported and respected, that invitation for empathy ultimately brought the whole community of coworkers together.
“Why do we keep neglecting each other?” was Curtis’ core question. Together the coalition started an Adopt a Family program, a Thanksgiving food drive, and other programs to support each other.
Cooper was part of that initial Black Equality Coalition and had already become a de facto source for resources at their workplace due to her reputation for kindness.
Today that practice of community building and care has surpassed the boundaries of the workplace.
To access free clothes or to donate clothes or time to Lori’s Closet, get in touch via https://form.jotform.com/251345685183159
