Giving Back to Teenage Moms

A couple months ago, I was looking to expand my horizons and find some new places to explore. I decided to do so through work. After searching out some new venues to share my organizing skills with others, I went to an orientation meeting for volunteers at New Moms, Inc. in the city's west side. Though I was going in the hopes of speaking to group participants at some point, the staff lit up a bit when I mentioned that I was a Certified Professional Organizer®. 

About a week or so after the meeting, a staff member reached out to me asking if I would be interested in helping to organize some areas of their facility. Of course!

New Moms, Inc. is an organization that offers housing, jobs training, emotional support and much more for young and teenage mothers and their children who are usually without a place to live. Though I personally can only imagine what it would have been like to have children when I was a teen, I feel confident that having some sense of organization in my life would only be the iceberg of what I would need. Nevertheless, it would make some parts of life that much easier. 

There are three storage areas that we tackled. The first was a storage closet that houses items that refill a space called The Boutique. Things like make-up, jewelry, clothes and personal care items. But, also kid's clothes, toys, small appliances and so many hand-made donated blankets! There had been some rhyme and reason to the shelves originally, but time had taken a toll. After only an afternoon, the storage closet was ready to be shopped and refilled easily:


I then tackled a basement storage area that housed shelves and shelves of overflow diapers, formula, clothes for moms and babies, toys and seasonal items. Again, a system had been in place at some point, but the amount of items had outgrown it's space (great for the organization!).

Yesterday, I finished with an area referred to as The Boutique. This is where moms go to shop for items they are in need of. Beauty products, clothes, school supplies, books, toys, diapers and so on. The facility had received a grant for some new furniture, so we were able to start from scratch with new cabinets, bins and chalkboard labels (my first time using them!). It turned out pretty great.

All in all, it was pretty great to know that instead of helping an individual or single family have an easier, more peaceful life in their space, I was able to help facilitate an entire group of women and their families feel a little more like themselves, a little more comfortable and a little less lost.

Junk in Your Trunk

We've all done it. Stuffed so much in the trunk of our car that we're not sure it will even latch shut. Why? Why would we do this? Vacation. Shopping. Returning the shopping. Groceries. Carpooling with too many people with too many bags.

No matter the reason, we generally live in an area where cars are our main means of transportation. Leaving us to fill these sometimes great big trunks with...stuff. How can we go about making some sense of it all?

- Take advantage of any built-in organizational items. Many trunks now come with trays or nets built-in. Use them! Whatever items you may regularly toss in the trunk could find cozy homes in these spots.

- Use Velcro®. I always have an emergency kit in my trunk. Thankfully, I've never had to pull it out. Because of that, I love that I can make it stick to one corner of my trunk, out of the way, with it's Velcro® covered bottom. No sliding, no rolling.

- Make sure you really want those things in your trunk. Do you really need roller skates in your trunk when you've never roller skated? All those bags of returns you keep meaning to take back to the department store? Actually take them back; if it's too late, donate or gift the items you don't want. Anything that was supposed to go back in the house, but never made it, finally get to go home again.

Packing to Move

A lot of people are moving this time of year. Here's a couple quick tips to make the packing process easier on everyone (because let's be honest - no one likes packing!):

1) Don't pack anything you wouldn't pay someone else to take to your new home for you. Whether you're hiring movers, using your friends truck or taking things yourself, someone is taking the time and effort to pack, move and unpack your belongings. If you wouldn't pay someone for their time to move that ugly sweater you've never worn, then donate it before it even gets a chance to get packed.

2) Pack like items together. Books with books, beauty products with beauty products, linens with linens. It's that simple. 


3) Have the right materials at hand. Boxes, packing paper, packing tape, garbage bags, marker. Don't assume everything needs packing in a box. Things like large blankets, stuffed animals and hanging clothes can easily be put in garbage bags for transportation.

4) Label boxes. On the top and on at least one side. If the boxes are stacked four high, you don't want to unstack them all just to see what's in the bottom box.

5) Don't make the boxes too heavy. Because you have to lift them. Or, I do. And, that's no fun!

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