CHANUTE — Rose Smalley knows what it means to struggle. After receiving services from Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center over the past two years, Smalley wanted to find a way to help others.
She organized a free clothing drive that takes place each weekend in December in Chanute. Working with area organizations and businesses, the Ronda Lane Clothing Closet offers new or gently used clothing and other items at no cost to anyone in need.
The clothing closet “pop-up shop” will be open from 1 to 4 p.m. this Sunday at the community building at 110 Ronda Lane, and the next two Saturdays, same time and place.
“This is something I wanted to do for a while because I’m a humanitarian and I see the need. People can’t always afford what they charge in stores, and I thought it would be cool to have a free thrift store, if I had the means to do it,” Smalley said.
Smalley, who is 55, lived most of her life in Alaska. She was a hair stylist and owned her own salon in Anchorage, which had a brief brush with fame when actor John Travolta once came in to tan, she said.
“It was a big deal,” Smalley said, laughing. “This is not my first time being interviewed for the newspaper.”
She also worked as a Realtor for a time and owned multiple businesses. When she lived in Anchorage, she often interacted with Alaska Natives. She knew many Native people faced homelessness. Many of them passed by her house on a regular basis, so she began to collect items such as hats and scarves to give to those in need.
“It’s a very selfish reason — it’s the feeling I get when I give. The reward is so much larger than anything I give,” she said. She described herself as an empath: “If I’m not helping people, I don’t feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing.”
IN 2022, Smalley moved to Chanute when she learned her father had been diagnosed with cancer.
Soon, she fell upon hard times and faced health challenges of her own. That’s when she began to receive services from SEKMHC.
In addition to therapy, she met with the Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) team. The ACT team provides comprehensive treatment and support services to those who need a higher level of care. The goal is to improve their quality of life. Research shows such programs result in fewer hospitalizations, longer periods of stable housing and greater satisfaction with support and services, according to SEKMHC.
An ACT team member who contacted the Register on Smalley’s behalf called her “a true success story.”
Smalley said the ACT team put her in touch with the Chanute Housing Authority, which provided her with an apartment. The Housing Authority also provided free space for her clothing drive. Her project also receives assistance from Catholic Charities USA. Michelle Jackson, who runs a consignment store in Chanute and previously operated 3 Generations in Iola, donated many items.
The clothing closet also offers shoes, coats, bedding, curtains, shower curtains and accessories such as purses, wallets and scarves. The clothing closet opened Saturday, Dec. 7. Smalley said she didn’t get as many visitors as she would have liked, but she’s hoping word spreads and more will attend in the future.
SMALLEY hopes she might find a way to continue the clothing drive. Perhaps this endeavor leads her to something else, such as establishing a non-profit thrift store with a more permanent storefront.
She’s no longer able to work as a hair stylist because of carpal tunnel syndrome and other health challenges.
“I can’t really work and I’ve always worked with the public,” she said. “I’ve been knocked down before, and I built myself back up and achieved higher each time. I feel like this is a step in the right direction and it’s going to lead me somewhere. It’s a stepping stone to help people in bigger and better ways. I just don’t know what that is yet.”
Advertisement
Advertisement
