Inside the Julia M. Carson Government Center, there’s a room packed with clothes that are free for anyone. On Friday, a group of about 20 seniors flipped through the racks, filling their bags while jazz standards played.
When anyone finished picking out their new outfits, they’d bring an armful up to Johnnie Blue, a coordinator for the Center Township Clothing Closet. He’d make conversation and ask about their lives as he bagged up the clothes and got them ready to go.
Blue came out of retirement from his nursing career to help start the clothing closet in 2023, when it was only one room for both free food and free clothes. They had no men’s clothes at the time, so he grabbed some out of his closet and texted his family group chat to ask for more donations.
Three years later, the food pantry moved to its own bigger space in the government center. And the clothing closet has almost everything — scrubs, formal dresses, pants to wear to work, swimsuits and kids clothes. There are sizes from extra small to 6X.
If you go
The Clothing Closet
🗓️ 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every other weekday
📍 Julia M. Carson Government Center, 300 E. Fall Creek Parkway N. Drive
Center Township served 2,015 people through the clothing closet in 2025. They serve a lot of older adults on fixed incomes or people who are unhoused, but anyone, even if they don’t live in Center Township, can come get clothes once every 30 days. There are no eligibility requirements.
“Gas right now is currently high,” said Center Township Trustee LaDonna Freeman. “And sometimes that money you would be paying to buy some clothes with, you go buy some food with.”
And if you need something they don’t have, Freeman will ask you to write it on a sticky note. She’ll ask around in the community and call you when the item comes in. Last week, a mother came in, looking for clothes to wear to a funeral. Freeman offered to use her own money or a gift card to buy some kids shoes for the woman’s family.
‘They treated me just like family’
After about an hour, a few women walked out of the clothing closet with full bags. They got dresses for church, and one woman, Georgia Taylor Whistle, took a mini cow statue that the township was using as décor.
It was Whistle’s second time at the Clothing Closet. The 68-year-old pulled a colorful paisley dress out of her bag to show off.
“I find everything very unique, and everyone is very nice,” she said.
People browse through clothes at a clothing closet event hosted at Julia M Carson Government Center on May 15, 2026. Credit: Abra Richardson/Mirror Indy
Next to her, Romell Postell, a 62-year-old from Clermont, pulled a black and white dress out of her bag. She said she’d been wearing shorter dresses to church, but her kids told her to get some longer ones.
“(They) helped me to look classy, as the kids may say,” she said. Postell first shopped for clothes at the trustee’s office after changing clothing sizes and running out of clothes that fit her well.
“I was able to get clothes that fit me, so it was amazing. It was like shopping at a mall and paying nothing,” she said. “And they were so courteous. They helped me pick out stuff.”
“They treated me just like family,” Postell said.
How to get free clothes
🗓️ The Clothing Closet is open Monday-Friday. On Tuesdays, it’s open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Every other weekday, it’s open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
📍 Julia M. Carson Government Center, 300 E. Fall Creek Parkway N. Drive
How much you can take home with you depends on the Clothing Closet’s inventory. Typically, women can receive up to 10 clothing items, and men can get up to seven.
How to donate your clothes
You can bring clothes, shoes, swimsuits and some kids’ toys to the Julia M. Carson Government Center anytime it’s open. They particularly need men’s clothes and kids’ clothes. Every donation is sorted, washed and displayed by size.
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Mirror Indy reporter Sophie Young covers services and resources. Contact her at sophie.young@mirrorindy.org.
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