In hopes of offering the community safe and convenient access to living necessities, the Freedom Area School District established the Bulldog Boutique in the high school nurse’s office. For years, this served as a vital resource for families to acquire clothing and various hygiene supplies. To ensure that the purpose of the Bulldog Boutique can be fulfilled, it is currently undergoing a notable renovation.

When the Bulldog Boutique was initially established, the goal was for it to be a vessel of supplies for families in distress. Since being introduced, the boutique has provided girls and boys with shirts, pants, undergarments and unisex hygiene products. All resources found in the boutique came from students, Freedom families and school faculty. To promote its purpose, teachers will donate to the boutique on the first few Fridays of every new school year. The money raised every year goes towards updating what materials are available to the community. This year, however, it went toward renovating the boutique entirely.

The idea to renovate the boutique dates back to January, when secretary, Ms. Carrie Tuszynski, and guidance counselor, Ms. Alyssa Young, introduced the renovation project to the school board. The goal of the project is to reorganize the closet space into divisions —girls shirts, pants and shoes, as well as boys shirts, pants and shoes, and a separate space for hygiene products. By making these changes, the boutique would be more convenient for students to sort through in times of need.

“Kids were always excited to come in there. We thought, if it looked really nice, students would be very excited to go in there,” Tuszynski said. “We are doing this for them.”

The Closet Factory, a company that specializes in customizing and reorganizing closet spaces, is a key factor to the completion of this project. All resources that were in the Bulldog Boutique were removed prior to renovations. So far, the Closet Factory aims to repaint the walls, install and hang shelves for convenient storage and fix mirrors around the space to make the closet feel more similar to a genuine boutique.

What started as a nurse’s office closet is being transformed into a place of opportunity for those in the community who are in need. Revamping the Bulldog Boutique is a task expected to spill into the first few months of spring.

“The closet was very unorganized,” Young said. “We wanted to make it easier for the kids to go in there and get what they want while staying on time.”

Upon completion, resources will be returned and reorganized in a fashion that is not only visually appealing but also convenient. The current renovations ensure that the Bulldog Boutique’s purpose will be amplified as well.

“The project is going to benefit the community financially, especially for those who can not afford to purchase these things,” Tuszynski said. “It is going to serve as a place for students to go in a spur of the moment situation; it is going to help students and faculty.”