The ESOL Closet

The ESOL Closet “Helping families with their material needs so that their children can focus on learning and succeeding in life.”
How can you help?

By Donating everything for the house, including food and cleansers. Louise Yariv:
[email protected] Our story
Louise and Yossie Yariv have been helping families for more than twelve years. Louise, who is the ESOL ( English Students of Other Languages) teacher at GHS, started helping ESOL families informally. They went to people’s homes to get items in a donated pick- up truck and stored then

in their garage. Finally there was no room in the garage. With the consent of the administration at GHS, space was found at school and The ESOL Closet was born. The Closet had clothing, household items and small appliances. Furniture and large appliances are in a storage unit paid for with monetary donations from individuals and businesses. Soon the news of the Closet spread and community agencies began requesting assistance. Today the ESOL Closet provides assistances not only to student families, but to others in the community along with many agencies, from Family Services to Migrant Education.

04/17/2026

Graduation and moving out is quickly approaching. We in the ESOL Closet will take anything from you or your student that is clean and in good working order. We then give those things to families in need in our community for free. We can pick up your donations with an appointment.

We opened the ESOL Closet in 1999 when I was a teacher in Gainesville High School. We have helped hundreds of families with basic needs. We help immigrant families, families that were previously unhomed, vets, women who were victims of domestic abuse. etc.

We take furniture, housewares, towels and sheets and pillows, dressers, etc. One of the biggest requests right now is for food. We will take shelf stable food, refrigerated and freezer food. We also take open bottles of shampoos and cleansers, toys, bicycles, jewelry and decor even toilet paper and paper towels. We take anything that families in need can use and don't have to spend money on. We consider size, practicality and condition when deciding what we can or cannot take.

We have moved our storage from Gainesville High School to the Westminster Presbyterian Church ( 3232 NW 15th Avenue across from Westwood Middle School). We will soon set up a drop off area if going there is more convenient than us meeting you.

Please text me at 352-281-0836 with any questions you may have.

Thank you so much.

Louise and Yossie, too.

02/26/2026
02/05/2026
02/04/2026

We want to thank everyone who made a donation towards our agreement with the Westminster Presbyterian Church. We were thrilled with the response and appreciate how you have helped us.We have paid the church for one year and therefore no longer need financial donations for the rent. With any extra money we have, we are buying things for the families we help.

02/04/2026

DID ICE GRAB HER?

01/01/2026

It's the end of the year. We and the ESOL Closet survived a turbulent year as we were forced out of GHS, and came close to shutting the ESOL Closet down. Friends and neighbors gave us temporary space in their garages, but the most generous offers came from Jud and his friend Andy. Andy let us use a space as an overflow, and the Westminster Presbyterian Church (WPC) in town gave us space and allowed us to meet families on location. We used the space at no cost in 2025.
The WPC asked us to participate in some of the costs for our section of the building starting January 2026. Our share is going to be $200 a month. This is a very good deal for us considering the size of the space.
Our friends are coming through and we already have a couple of months rent from their donations.
We won't mention names, but we appreciate all the help we are getting from our supporters.

Donations welcome.
PM me for more information.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Address

3232 NW 15th Avenue
Gainesville, FL
32605

Telephone

+13522810836

Website

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