08.22.2022

Back-to-School Season is in Full Swing at Treehouse!

*Treehouse staff and community volunteers set up pop-up shops in Spokane and Vancouver for youth in foster care to get clothing, backpacks and school supplies. Photo credit: Alecia Kleiner*

It is back-to-school season, an exciting and nerve-wracking time for students. For youth experiencing foster care, it can be particularly challenging, so our goal is to make sure they can start their first day on the right foot with new or like-new clothes and supplies they need and can feel good about.

Building on last year’s successful pop-up event in Spokane, the Treehouse Store held two pop-up shops this summer for our high-school aged Graduation Success participants — in Spokane on July 28^th and Vancouver on August 4^th. The Treehouse Store team works hard to create meaningful shopping experiences for each who enters the store, and these pop-up shops allowed Treehouse to bring the same experience to youth in other parts of the state. With Grad Success’ Educational Specialists there to support, youth could pick out their own clothing, backpacks and school supplies in person, finding things that would make them feel confident, empowered and have ownership over what they wear.

“Wow, I love how many larger sized clothing is here. I go to other events like this and I can’t ever find clothing that fits.”
Youth at the Vancouver pop-up

The events also gave them a chance to become more familiar the Treehouse Store, learning about items they can continue to request and have mailed to them through an online form and style quiz.

Youth were also able to enroll in the Graduation Success program at the event if they weren’t already a participant and shop for items.

For Grad Success participants who couldn’t attend, Treehouse staff were there to shop for them and deliver at a later date, making sure they wouldn’t miss out on getting new items before the start of the school year.

“The Pop-up Shop is such a special event. All the different departments at Treehouse coming together and collaborating in a dynamic and adaptive way to truly provide our best services to the communities we serve. It was really nice seeing all the staff (in-person) connecting with the youth and their caregivers.“
Alyosha Van Dusen, Treehouse staff member

Through the two events this summer, 110 youth were able to get almost 1,500 items to help start the school year strong.

AT&T, one of Treehouse’s community partners during the back-to-school season, collected items at their locations and volunteered at the pop-up shops in Spokane and Vancouver. Photo credit: Shantell Prater

These pop-ups were made possible by our volunteers and community partners, including AT&T, McKinstry, First Tech Federal Credit Union and the MJ Murdock Charitable Trust — we appreciate their support and employees who volunteered at the events. AT&T also collected clothing, backpacks and school supplies at their Spokane and Vancouver locations, and McKinstry provided space in their new Catalyst Building in Spokane. Volunteers and community partners alike, thank you for helping making these events special!

It’s not too late to support youth experiencing foster care prepare to go back to school! Now through September, there are opportunities to host an online donation drive, collect clothing and school supplies or order off our wish list. For more information, visit treehouseforkids.org/toolkit.