CLOTHED WITH CONFIDENCE

THE HANGER

Thrift stores provide a valuable service by o ering low prices on all manner of used items. What those stores don’t typically provide, however, is brand-new goods. And where apparel is concerned, Hannah Grant says there’s nothing like an unworn garment with the tag still on it. Her non-profi t mobile boutique, The Hanger, fi lls that gap by providing new apparel, shoes, and accessories to underprivileged middle and high school students in Brantley, Pierce, and Ware Counties.

“There’s just something gratifying about popping o the tag of a boutique outfi t like the rest of your peers,” says Grant, a mother of two who lives in Hoboken. “We wanted The Hanger to be a resource that operates completely di erently than anything we had ever seen. Thrift shops require money and transportation. We knew that we needed to fi nd a way to bring the clothing to the students and make sure they were able to pick out items that fi t their style and their fi gure. And no place that we had ever heard of specifi cally provided brand new clothes still with the tags on.”

Grant says the idea fi rst began to form in 2021 after she heard about a local high school student in need of clothing. While collecting donations for the student, she began picking up additional items that weren’t necessarily a “need” but that she thought would help build confi dence in a teenage girl struggling to fi t in.

Later that year, Grant’s fi fth-grade daughter, Kayden, asked to purchase clothing items as Christmas gifts for a classmate who wore repetitive, ill-fi tting outfi ts to school. That’s when she decided it was time to launch The Hanger. “What started as a Facebook post on my personal page quickly gained traction, and The Hanger was o cially formed in December of 2021,” she says.

Grant secured 501c3 status, rounded up some partners, and began fundraising. By March 2022, she and her team were able to purchase and renovate an 8.5-foot by 14-foot cargo trailer – complete with lights, air conditioning and a dressing room – to serve as the mobile boutique. Local boutique partners quickly fi lled the trailer with donated items, many from sale racks and past seasons, in a large variety of styles and sizes ranging from XS to 4XL.

The items are distributed free of charge via a unique “shopping” experience for each recipient. It starts when 6th through 12th-grade students in Ware, Pierce, and Brantley County are nominated by school sta for “The Hanger’s Dress for Success Scholarship.” Quarterly visits are scheduled for each participating school and the mobile boutique sets up in the parking lot. Students enter the unit one at a time during school hours, select their items, and leave unmarked shopping bags in a counselor’s o ce for pickup at the end of the school day.

The whole process is discrete and provides each student with at least a week’s worth of clothing and a pair of shoes, plus socks, undergarments, toiletries, mascara, and lip gloss. The Hanger served its fi rst school in March 2022 and within six months had successfully provided those kinds of items to more than 150 students.

“The privacy of the students we serve is top priority,”

Hannah and her daughter, Kayden, both have the vision and selfl ess spirit that were instrumental in making The Hanger a reality.

PHOTO BY PROPER PINES PHOTOGRAPHY

LEFT AND BELOW: The Hanger’s souped-up mobile boutique houses an extensive selection of apparel and accessories, which it brings to middle and high school students in three counties.

PHOTOS BY NATE CASON, CASON VISUAL PRODUCTIONS

ABOVE: Hannah Grant is fl anked by board members Allie Dixon, treasurer Emily Hadaway, and secretary Paige Taylor. PHOTO BY PROPER PINES PHOTOGRAPHY

Grant says. “We work diligently to ensure their shopping experience remains anonymous among their peers. But if those walls could talk about some of the struggles these young girls have faced and the joy that feeling pretty has brought, it would bring tears to your eyes.”

Without breaking confi dentiality, Grant o ers a sampling of comments she has received from middle and high schoolage girls: “I have never had anything with a tag on it.” … “These might be the best fi tting jeans I have ever tried on. Literally they aren’t too tight or too big.” … “This is the best day ever; I will never forget it.”

With an e ective process in place for helping students dress for success, Grant now envisions a mentorship program that will go even deeper in developing local youth. “We absolutely love providing students with the ability to dress for success; however, that is only surface-level impact,” she notes. “We want to o er support, direction, motivation, advice, and education to build leaders.”

Grant has a heart for investing in other people’s lives, a trait that extends to her full-time job as a community liaison for GHC Hospice. She came to that position after a decade in banking, which she “thought would be my lifelong career,” she says. After both of her parents were diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, she began re-evaluating her career goals.

“Giving back and serving others is my passion and what I feel called to do,” she says. “I am blessed to have the opportunity to help families fi nd the care and support they deserve when needed most.”

Grant is also active in the Brantley County community as a co-owner, gym manager, and kids coach at Invictus Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Hoboken. Jiu Jitsu has been a hobby for four years, and she’s a big advocate for women and children learning to defend themselves and “seeing the confi dence this sport brings.”

With Grant in their corner, local girls are being impacted in a positive way. (As are boys – male students are eligible for provisions from The Hanger as well.)

“The Hanger is undoubtably making a di erence in the confi dence of teenagers in our community,” she says. “The best part for me is allowing my daughter to be such a big part of the operation. She is able to not only witness but participate in making a di erence in the lives of others. However, the success we have seen goes far beyond just me and my daughter. We have the best board of directors [secretary Paige Taylor, treasurer Emily Hadaway, and board member Allie Dixon], amazing boutique partners, and local business support that keep us afl oat.”

That local support includes attendees of The Hanger’s semiannual Fundraiser Fashion Shows, in which local students showcase the chic apparel available to recipients. The Spring 2022 edition was a sellout event and the Fall show, which was held in November at the Waycross City Auditorium, was a rousing success as well. The Hanger's fundraising goals include acquiring a truck capable of hauling the mobile unit, which would eliminate the need for volunteers to tow it to each school outreach event.

The Hanger has achieved a considerable amount of success in a relatively short time. And it’s just getting started. Quite literally, this is an organization on the move.

“It has been awesome,” Grant says, “to see this vision come to life.” OL

ABOVE: The Hangar’s Spring 2022 Fashion Show featured Ella Jones and other local students showcasing apparel available to recipients.

PHOTO BY PROPER PINES PHOTOGRAPHY

FOR MORE INFORMATION The Hangar is a completely volunteer-based organization, and 100 percent of donated funds benefi t students the organization serves. For details on becoming a business sponsor, visit thehanger912.com or email thehanger912@gmail.com.