Chillicothe City Schools provide students with clothes, food, laundry

CHILLICOTHE ― Chillicothe City Schools is prepared to give students the tools they need to succeed, regardless of the challenges they may face.

Tabitha Muse is the McKinney-Vento Coordinator at CCSD, a program to help students dealing with homelessness. Muse said about 500 of Chillicothe School District's 3,000 students qualify for Mckinney-Vento, which Muse said is comparable to larger cities like Cincinnati and Toledo.

More: Project School Tools provides over 1,500 to local students

However, CCSD is also equipped to help students with other needs, like food, everyday necessities, formal wear and more. The collection of services is known as CavsCare.

"We really tried to provide wraparound support with a very good team," Muse said. "I want our students to succeed whether they have a hard foundation or not."

The Cavalier Closet is a pantry filled with basic necessities that are available in every CCSD building.

Each pantry has hygiene items like toothbrushes, shampoo, feminine hygiene products, toilet paper and more.

Shelf-stable food like canned meals, cereal and individually packed snacks are available at the pantry. The pantry also offers items like blankets, school supplies and backpacks.

There are no requirements to use the closet.

A separate section of the closet is the Cavalier Clothing Closet. The closet is filled with clothing to meet the basic needs of CCSD students, including underwear and socks. The closet is available to any student attending the school district.

"I can post on Facebook, 'I need a size 14 football cleat,' literally within an hour they're dropped off at the office," Muse said.

Project Glam provides students with clothing for homecoming, prom, employment interviews or any occasion that may require formal attire.

The room has essentials like men's attire, dresses, jewelry, shoes, makeup and more. Students can come in, try on clothes and choose an outfit.

In addition to providing clothing, CCSD also provides laundry vouchers to students in-need.

"I think that a lot of people don't realize that [laundry] is a necessity and it's a basic necessity," Muse said. "Not everyone has money to pay the gas to get to work and then do their laundry."

The vouchers are provided by Brite and Clean Coin Laundry at 49 Douglass Ave.

Brite and Clean Laundry offers a monthly Laundry Love Night where they offer locals free time to do laundry. Call Brite and Clean at 740-775-7760 for more information.

CCSD is accepting donations for the Cavalier Closet. Muse said they are accepting items like peanut butter, canned food, tissues, dish soap, deodorant, paper towels and more. The district is also accepting monetary donations.

Donations can be dropped off at Chillicothe Middle School at 381 Yoctangee Pkwy during school hours.

For more information on CavsCares or how to donate, contact Tabitha Muse at [email protected] or 740 466-8832.

Megan Becker is a reporter for the Chillicothe Gazette. Call her at 740-349-1106, email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @BeckerReporting