December 2003
Building Self Esteem From the Inside Out...Starting with Underwear
by Matthew Alderton
Michelle DiGiacomo was in a meeting with school administrators at an inner-city school last Christmas when she learned that, instead of toys, some children were asking Santa for underwear. "It’s something I never thought about," says DiGiacomo, who has a 5-year-old daughter. "I was just freaked out."
She learned that teachers were going out and spending their own salaries on underwear and socks for young students who were coming to school without these clothing essentials. "I thought of my own daughter. What if I didn’t have that for her? It’s a sick feeling."
As a result of this shock, DiGiacomo, 43, started the Kid’s Closet. It’s part of a nonprofit organization she founded last year called Direct Effect Charities that focuses on improving the lives of impoverished kids in Chicago’s public schools. She runs the charity, a one-woman show, from her home office. "The idea behind Direct Effect is to directly affect people," DiGiacomo says. "I wanted people to know when they supported our charity they were supporting a child directly."
Clothes for the Kid’s Closet are housed at a Chicago Public Schools warehouse. The schools notify students — kindergarteners through eighth graders — that socks and underwear are available to them and, if they have a need, they are encouraged to go to their teachers or school counselors. Teachers collect the child’s sizes and Direct Effect supplies them with their order. Most importantly, all of this is done in a confidential manner to support the pride and dignity of the kids.
"If a kid is asking for underwear, they need it," DiGiacomo says. As she can tell you, a new pair of underwear covers a lot more than skin. From an abusive home herself, she understands the emotional impact neglect can have on a child. "It shatters their self-esteem," she laments. A big part of the Kid’s Closet, and everything Direct Effect does, is helping children build a positive self-image by teaching them to make a difference in the world around them.
"Children are preciously innocent. They don’t see poverty," DiGiacomo says. "They need to know the realities of this world and be taught they can do something to make a difference. Rather than make them think poverty does not exist, we need to teach them what they can do to help."
And if you teach by example, she urges, they will learn. DiGiacomo recently received a thank you letter from a little girl who said she loves what Direct Effect does and wants to do the same thing when she grows up. "I’m betting she will," DiGiacomo says. "I believe in her. And I always say there’s magic in believing."
Matthew Alderton is a Chicago-based writer who’s completing his journalism degree at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism.
Kids Closet Info
Tax-exempt, nonprofit organization, www.directeffectcharities.org
Send new socks & underwear to: Direct Effect Charities, Chicago Kid’s Closet, 4720 S. St. Louis, Chicago, IL 60632-3021
Send checks to: Direct Effect Charities, 666 Dundee Road, Suite 1706, Northbrook, IL 60062
Contact Information: Direct Effect Charities, Michelle DiGiacomo, 312-296-5311, directeffect@ameritech.net
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