About Us
St. Katharine Drexel Community Closet is an all volunteer organization continuously operating since 1961. The volunteers serve the neighbors in the Vickery Meadow N. E. Dallas and Lake Highlands area by providing not only much needed clothing but also a sense of dignity and sometimes even joy. Every Neighbor receives new socks and underwear. Expectant mothers receive beautiful layette gifts. All eligible neighbors receive diapers, feminine hygiene products and personal hygiene products. When we are able, we provide school uniforms and school supplies, jackets in the spring and coats in the winter.
The Beginnings
A group of Catholic women from 12 different parishes in the Dallas area started what is now known as St. Katharine Drexel Community Closet. The ladies were helping the needy through home visits in association with St. Vincent de Paul.
For 10 years, they operated a clothes closet in the former Telephone building on Oak Lawn at Irving Avenue in Dallas. When they were forced to vacate because another organization needed the space, the ladies operated out of a member’s home and various garages for about a year. They then were able to secure space at 2710 Samuell Blvd.
In this location, they were able to bring both direct and indirect services to those living in poverty in the surrounding area. The ladies established a thrift store at this location to continue their good works. Their services included feeding, clothing, and providing blankets for sleeping, bus tickets, and hygiene kits to unhoused individuals on an “as needed” basis. Clients referred from qualified agencies were provided assistance with rent, utilities, gasoline, emergency food and medical needs.
As the city of Dallas became more and more involved with services to the unhoused, the ladies began collaborating with other churches to change their focus to the immigrant community in the Vickery Meadow area of Dallas. Working with a food pantry and a social worker, they began receiving referrals from other agencies and were able to provide clothing for basic needs as well as for job interviews and employment.
In 2012, the ladies became part of the Vickery Meadow Neighborhood Alliance and moved into what is now the Pantry and Clothes Closet at 8448 Walnut Hill Lane. In this location, they built the operation to be able to help the neighbors who come to “shop” every three months. Through the generous donations of supporters, they are able to provide year- round clothing, winter coats and school uniforms. Hygiene articles are also provided when needed.
In addition to the everyday clothing, there is a volunteer who creates layettes for pregnant or newborn mothers. These layettes are created using donated items as well as new items purchased from budget retailers.
At Christmas time, a group of volunteers led by one very dedicated elf provide new toys to 1500+ children. They work all year long creating relationships with organizations who generously donate items for babies all the way to teens.
Today, St. Katharine Drexel Community Closet welcomes men and women of all faiths to continue with its good works.
The closet is able to continue to serve because of legacy left by our founding members. All operating expenses are met by membership dues, memorials, honorariums, other donations, and investment income. All of the charitable works are performed by members and volunteers. There is no paid staff.
St Katharine Drexel
St.Katharine is known as the patron saint of racial justice and of philanthropists. Pope Leo XIV sees her as an example of those who, during their lives, “discovered that the poorest are not only objects of our compassion, but teachers of the Gospel. It is not a question of ‘bringing’ God to them, but of encountering [God] among them.”
Her feast day is observed on March 3, the anniversary of her death. The Vatican cites a fourfold legacy of Drexel:
- A love of the Eucharist and perspective on the unity of all peoples.
- Courage and initiative in addressing social inequality among minorities.
- Her efforts to achieve quality education for all.
- And selfless service, including the donation of her inheritance, for the victims of injustice.
In her early years, Drexel traveled extensively, both in her home country and abroad. In 1886, during an audience with Pope Leo XIII, she was urged to become a missionary and to realize her desire to assist the Indian and African American population in the country. In 1889, Katharine Drexel fulfilled that wish by entering a convent of the Sisters of Mercy and in February 1891, she founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People. Drexel decided to establish the congregation to address the needs of Native Americans and African Americans in the southern and western United States, as well as the poor black communities. She served as first Superior General of the congregation and held that position until 1937, when illness made it necessary that she retire from active administration.
An appeal by the late Archbishop James H. Blenk brought Mother Katharine to New Orleans in 1915 to open the way for the education of the black youth in the city. This led to the purchase of the old Southern University site, and establishing Xavier High School, later known as Xavier Preparatory School. She financed more than 60 missions and schools around the United States, as well as founding Xavier University of Louisiana – the only historically Black and Catholic university in the United States. She financed Mother Loyola, the blood sister and successor of foundress Lucy Eaton Smith of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine de’ Ricci, to care for Afro-Cuban children in Havana, Cuba during and after the Spanish American War.