ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Close to 8,000 kids in Orange County were identified as living in a transitional environment last year, according to officials.

“Transitional” in this context means what many would call “homeless.”

Students under the category live in homes with multiple families, in cars, shelters, or in the most dire of circumstances, no shelter at all. While the number has grown since the 2021-2022 school year, there’s a little-known shop in Orange County aimed at creating a world of difference.

Rafael Martinez orchestrates a tight ship out of his little shop in Orange County. Boxes of clothes sit neatly stacked, organized with labels and coordinating bar codes. You would be hard-pressed to find something out of place, and the store is organized similarly to what you would find behind the doors of any shop at the Mall at Millenia.

“I have to have it organized, otherwise I can’t find it,” said Martinez, Program Assistant at Kids’ Closet.

Though Kids’ Closet isn’t at the Mall at Millenia. Quite the opposite, actually. It’s located south of Pine Hills, inside an unmarked trailer, and it rarely sees visitors.

Kids’ Closet is filled to the brim with new-with-tags clothes, though none of it is for sale. The project is part of a web of OCPS initiatives aimed at helping students who are unhoused.

When a student is identified as needing some help, Martinez packs bags with new clothes and school supplies for them. He takes pride in the work up to the most specific details. 

Martinez also knows presentation is everything. Giving a student clothes in an old crumbled grocery bag, for example, is out of the question.

“It shows the care you have for that person,” he said. “We want to make sure things look presentable, because every student matters.”

Last year, Orange County estimated there were about 7,980 students who were not living in an adequate home. This includes those living with multiple families, or in cars, hotels, or shelters.

This number has grown by almost 3,000 since the previous school year. Regrettably, the data might also be lower than reality. These head counts rely on parents self-reporting their situation, which many might feel averse to come forward about. 

“Identification is always a concern. Not just here in Central Florida, but across the nation,” said Christine Cleveland, Senior Administrator for Homeless and Migrant Education at OCPS. 

Cleveland hopes that parents know that indicating their living status will not result in their child being taken away. Conversely, identification can help the school provide parents with resources like those at Kids’ Closet.

In Orange County, parents fill out a digital residency questionnaire, which allows parents to provide information about their living situation without having to go into a school.

At Kids’ Closet, the mission is to instill pride in students and families. According to Cleveland, students who had received resources showed better attendance rates than their counterparts who did not.

“I kinda get speechless because I remember getting emotional thinking, ‘If this were my daughter, I would want her to have the best clothing she could have,’” said Martinez.

The OCPS Kids’ Closet is always looking for donations, however monetary ones are best suited for the organization so they can restock clothes most in demand. If you’d like to donate, click here.

OCPS Kids' Closet, or any other third-party online fundraiser, is not managed by Spectrum News 13.