Temple members help organize donations for kids at Child Haven
Clothes hang on display racks, and shoes line the shelves. It could be a department store, but everything here is donated and free.
Welcome to Peggy’s Attic. It is one of the first stops for children who are brought to Child Haven, Clark County’s agency tasked with caring for children removed from unsafe environments. Peggy’s Attic supplies clothes and other necessary items such as feeding bottles, diapers, strollers and toys.
“They arrive with just the clothes they were wearing when they were picked up,” said Audrey Rosenstein, director of Peggy’s Attic. “I’ve seen some of them … with just a diaper on.”
Peggy’s Attic was the brainchild of Peggy Leavitt, former manager of Child Haven. Rosenstein has been running it since it was set up in October 2001, first as a county employee and now as a volunteer. On average, clothes are provided for 350 children per month.
“I always say that all those years of putting myself through college by working retail had come back to haunt me, because we set it up like a store,” she said. “We didn’t want children coming in and (rifling through) bags.”
Summerlin resident Marianne Pochowski and her husband, Mike, have been foster parents for about 35 years and have housed dozens of children. She said other states they have lived in had nothing such as Peggy’s Attic. It helps her gather clothing for the children, enough to carry them through a few days until she can take them shopping.
“Most of them have nothing, and it (a trip to Peggy’s Attic) gives them a sense of ownership, a sense of pride,” she said. “Most of the children … are happy to have anything.”
Pochowski said Rosenstein makes going to Peggy’s Attic special for each child.
“Audrey, I’m her biggest fan,” she said. “She’s always makes these children feel so special. She will say, ‘I know something that I bet is perfect for you.’ And she’ll go pick out a toy or an outfit.”
Child Haven takes in 15 to 20 children per day, and almost all of them visit Peggy’s Attic.
“Kids can only stay on campus for 23½ hours, (and then) we have to have them placed,” said Kristi Jourdan, spokeswoman for Clark County Family Services. “It’s an understanding that we have with the National Center for Youth Law. … So, we make sure that we have kids placed as soon as possible.”
Sometimes foster parents take the children in, and sometimes family members step up to the plate, even if they are not prepared to care for a child. Rosenstein recalled one woman who came to pick up her grandchildren.
“Here was a woman who was caring for five kids on a fixed income,” Rosenstein said. “So we were able to get her started with some essentials. It makes a huge difference.”
Rosenstein and her husband, Craig, who is the rabbi at Temple Bet Emet, 9107 Del Webb Blvd., know what it’s like to be foster parents. They have 12 children, seven adopted. The newest one to be placed in their foster care is 5 months old.
Temple members are known for continually helping Peggy’s Attic.
“Some congregants donate on a regular basis and some when a call goes out,” said Janet Seidel, temple president. “Just this past Friday a member donated a baby stroller, baby carriage and other baby items. They brought everything to our Friday Shabbat services, and Rabbi Craig and Audrey piled all the items in their truck.”
Seidel called Rosenstein “a truly inspirational, amazing woman who has no equal in Las Vegas.”
Peggy’s Attic is an all-volunteer effort. Some are teens. One volunteer who can be counted on to give two or three days a week is Ali Caliendo, director of the nonprofit Foster Kinship, which serves Southern Nevada residents who are raising a relative’s children.
Items at Peggy’s Attic are available to the children for about the first week they’re placed. Adults picking up supplies for babies usually know exactly what they need and spend little time there. Teenagers like to linger, Rosenstein said. They try things on and search for unique items.
“It’s set up like a store,” Rosenstein said. “We tell them to ‘go shopping.’ ”
To serve them, Peggy’s Attic takes in donations from all over the valley. Churches often host donation drives. Temple Bet Emet recently hosted a barbecue with a donation component for Peggy’s Attic. Schools and clubs also pitch in. At Christmastime, people are generous, and items arrive in a flood. Women in the Metropolitan Police Department brought a load of toys they’d bought.
Elementary school-age boys are tough on clothes, so donations are few for that age group. Rosenstein said tennis shoes are always needed in all sizes for both genders. She said she wished she could give the children new shoes instead of gently used ones. It’s as much about self-worth as it is that new shoe scent.
“Would you want to wear someone else’s shoes?” she said.
Strollers and highchairs are other much-needed items. Cribs and car seats can be accepted only if they are new and still in the box.
Not all of the things on Rosenstein’s wish list involve items.
“I can always use volunteers,” she said. “Ideally, it could be run so that I could get out there in the community and get the donations that we need.”
Items can be dropped off at Peggy’s Attic, 701 N. Pecos Road at the corner of Bonanza Road, through Aug. 31 from 8-11 a.m. Monday through Friday. Starting Sept. 1, hours will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
For more information, call 702-455-5424 or visit tinyurl.com/mks7wwr.
Contact Summerlin/Summerlin South View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 702-387-2949.
Peggy’s Attic
Items can be dropped off at Peggy’s Attic, 701 N. Pecos Road at the corner of Bonanza Road, through Aug. 31 from 8-11 a.m. Monday through Friday. Starting Sept. 1, hours will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
For more information, call 702-455-5424.
