We're Here to Help: Share Wear
January 17, 2024
January 17, 2024 – The Santa Fe College (SF) community often takes care of itself, not out of obligation, but out of a need to enrich the lives of everyone we encounter. Saints Share Wear demonstrates this selfless behavior.
Saints Share Wear is a campus resource for the SF community. As such, it is not a retail business and not open to the public. The service's goal is to make affordable clothing accessible for SF students and staff. Every item in the store is priced at $1 or less.
"We also provide specific assistance," Heather Domin, SF Purchasing Assistant and Share Wear Squad member said, "such as professional wear for a job interview, low-cost lab coats and scrubs, and help for students in need (affected by disaster, unhoused, new baby, etc.). We coordinate with areas like Displaced Homemakers, Job Placement, and the LGBTQ+ Resource Center to help as many students as we can. Staff members also benefit from access to low-cost clothes, particularly children's clothes."
Share Wear is run by four committee officers: Cheetara Ritz, Heather Domin, Mikayla Robinson and Oralia Gamino. The Share Wear Squad acts as store managers, handling daily operations and campus outreach.
"We want all our students to feel welcome and comfortable shopping in the store and asking for help if they need it," Domin said, "whether that's help with emergency needs or help finding the kind of clothes they want."
Many students have reciprocated the generosity. When a volunteer covers the cost of a purchase for someone, that recipient might later return the favor by paying for another person's purchase.
The Share Wear Squad often go out of their way to help anyone struggling, no matter the situation. For example, one volunteer got a call about a student who'd just had a baby and needed some infant clothes. The volunteer took her into the store after hours and let her get what she needed free of charge.
"As for me," Domin said, "my favorite memory so far is of a student who came in one day very shy and withdrawn. We could see they had questions but were hesitant to say anything. I gently asked them a question and their eyes lit up. After that, they were in the store every week, shopping freely and telling us about what's going on in their life. The student recently graduated and when I think that we might have helped them come out of their shell in some small way, it makes all the time and effort so worthwhile."
Share Wear is located on SF's Northwest Campus, between the Oak Grove and the UF@SF Center, facing Building S (Building H, Room 130). The store is open Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. All sales are cash only.
Learn more about Saints Share Wear: sfcollege.edu/csc/sharewear.
