Free clothing in Napa, offered with dignity and respect.

Who We Are

Community Closet is the operating program of One Foot Forward Inc., a Napa based nonprofit organized for charitable purposes. Our mission is simple: to provide free clothing to individuals and families in need, regardless of their ability to give anything in return, and to create a welcoming space where our community can connect with dignity and respect.

Our Story

Community Closet started by accident. It began as a simple community swap. The idea was small: bring neighbors together to trade the things they no longer needed and keep good items out of the landfill. But at our very first swap, something became clear. The need in our community was so much bigger than a swap. People were not just looking to trade. Many were going without.

So we said, let us do it again next month. And in the weeks in between, the picture kept growing. The more we paid attention, the more we saw how many of our neighbors were going unserved, and how vast that need truly was. What started as a way to reduce waste had shown us something we could not unsee. That is when Community Closet was born.

Why "One Foot Forward"

Our name is our belief. No matter what you are facing, you can always start over with one step in the right direction. Everyone deserves a second chance, no matter the circumstances. Sometimes moving forward just takes one foot placed in front of the other, and a community willing to walk alongside you.

Where We Are Going

Our vision is to tie our community together, connecting people with the resources they need while keeping good clothing out of our landfills. We want a Napa where no neighbor has to choose between dignity and a warm coat, and where a well loved jacket gets a second life instead of a landfill.

Where it starts: donations sorted by hand before every pop up.

Visit the Closet

Volunteer With Us

Community Closet runs on the kindness of volunteers. Whether you can help sort clothing, welcome guests, or lend a hand on open days, we would love to have you. Every bit of time makes a difference for a family in need.

I Want to Volunteer

Why Secondhand Matters

Choosing secondhand does more than save money. It keeps good clothing in use, keeps usable items out of the waste stream, and lets the water, energy, and materials already spent on a garment go further. At Community Closet that idea is simple and local. Clothing one neighbor no longer needs becomes clothing another neighbor uses and values.

The water behind a single garment

Growing cotton and manufacturing clothing takes a large amount of water. Every extra season a garment stays in use makes better use of water that has already been spent.

How the Closet keeps clothing in circulation

Every donation moves through the same simple loop.

About these figures. Environmental estimates vary depending on the garment, the materials, the manufacturing process, and the region, and reputable organizations publish different numbers for the same item. Cotton T-shirt water use from WWF. Jeans water use from the UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion; note that UNEP elsewhere puts a pair of jeans nearer 3,000 to 4,000 litres, with the most efficient processes using about 2,000 and the least efficient more than 10,000. Textile waste figure from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Clothing life figure from WRAP.

Common Questions