San Francisco VA Health Care System

Social Work and Voluntary Service staff celebrate the new clothes closet for Veterans. Thanks to our friends at Glassybaby for making these clothes available through a generous donation.

Thanks to a generous donation, Veterans can leave the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC) with a clean set of clothes and a sense of pride and dignity. Glassybaby, a Seattle-based company that sells hand-blown glass products, has been a long-time donor and supporter of the San Francisco VA Medical Center. This November, they partnered with SFVAMC Social Work and Voluntary Service to fill a crucial need in taking care of our Veterans.

According to Kim Babcock, Director of Inpatient Social Work at SFVAMC, Veterans’ clothing can sometimes become soiled or damaged over the course of their hospital stay. Many homeless Veterans arrive at SFVAMC in clothes they’ve been wearing for several days or longer. All too often, Veterans must be discharged without a clean set of clothes to wear. “We want to discharge our Veterans with the dignity they deserve,” says Babcock. “Clothing is a big part of that. You’re going to feel even better if you can walk out of the hospital in a clean set of clothes.”

Voluntary Service often receives donations of clothing and maintains a supply that can be given to Veterans when they are discharged. However, the supply can be variable and unpredictable. Sometimes it is difficult to find the appropriate size for a Veteran, or the donated clothing may be very old and worn down. Now, Voluntary Service and Social Work staff have teamed up to use Glassybaby’s generous donation to maintain a full supply of brand new sweatshirts, sweatpants, underwear, and socks to give our Veterans on discharge. There are now clothes on hand for male and female Veterans of all sizes. Most importantly, the clothes are new and comfortable. The clothes are now kept in a closet near the Emergency Department – a convenient location for Social Work staff and our discharging Veterans.

Social Work staff have already noticed a significant impact in the one month since the new clothes closet has been operational. “It’s about giving our Veterans the help and care they deserve,” says Babcock. “Our Veterans are happier when they leave in new clothes, and Social Workers are happy knowing the Veterans will be clean and comfortable on their way home. We are so glad to have this resource.” We extend our sincerest thanks to our friends at Glassybaby for making this possible!

If you would like to give back to Veterans, the SFVAMC Voluntary Service is always looking for people to donate their time or resources. For more information, visit our Voluntary Service site or call (415) 750-2144.