Each month, Northeast Oregon Now will highlight a nonprofit in the greater Hermiston area with its Nonprofit Spotlight. Know of a nonprofit doing good in the community? Feel free to let us know at neonow@outlook.com for future installments of Nonprofit Spotlight.
HERMISTON, Ore.-Sweet Potato’s Closet supports foster families and at-risk youth in Eastern Oregon by providing everyday essentials at no cost.
Jessie Winchester, the Founder/Director of Sweet Potato’s Closet, started the federally recognized nonprofit out of a personal need when a teenager in the foster system was placed with her family.
“In May of 2020 when our teenager joined the family she came with nothing, very few personal items,” said Winchester. “COVID was also really taking off at the time and everything was closed so we had no way to get her what she needed.”
After spending about $1,000 in a week on clothing and other essential items, Winchester decided to stockpile some clothes and essential items.
The community responded and Winchester’s living room was soon overflowing with clothes, forcing the operation to move into a storage unit, then a larger unit before being able to move into a building in Hermiston.
Along the way, Winchester expanded her services from clothes to include shoes, beds and baby supplies, including formula and diapers.
“I started this to help get stuff for when I got a foster child, but the community said, ‘you can do more,’” said Winchester.
Sweet Potato’s Closet
By 2022, Winchester was serving about 300 people a month when the two buildings she was operating out of closed. Without adequate space or funding she was forced to shut down over the summer.
Thanks to continued community support and grant funding, Winchester opened her current location at 167 E. Main Street in Hermiston in the fall of 2022.
The name “Sweet Potato’s Closet” came from a baby girl that Winchester fostered, who came to her family in 2019.
The baby was born drug-dependent and couldn’t do much, including wake up for regular feedings without an alarm being set, so Winchester took to affectionately calling her “Sweet Potato” and the name stuck.
The foster system is overwhelmed with only 22 certified general foster homes in Umatilla and Morrow Counties, according to Winchester. When foster children are placed with a family they are often dropped off with very little notice and few, if any, essential items, such as clothes and toiletries.
“There’s a gap when the state drops a child off with a family,” said Winchester. “I’ve seen it, and we try to help fill that gap.”
Sweet Potato’s Closet is stocked with diapers, baby wipes, formula and bottles for babies, as well as things that aren’t thought of when children or teenagers are placed in a home, such as socks, underwear, shoes and toiletries.
New and used clothes, ranging in size from premature to adult are available, as are a selection of books, toys and arts and crafts.
Social workers with partner agencies can come to Sweet Potato’s Closet and get essential items for clients and registered foster families can come in and get what they need.
“We operate like a store,” said Winchester. “Instead of paying with cash, registered foster families pay with demographics.”
From April 2023 through December 2024 Sweet Potato’s Closet served over 5,000 people, including 1,200 youth.
According to Winchester, about 212 people a month are getting everyday essentials at Sweet Potato’s Closet through the first four months of 2025.
“We serve the entire foster family, biological kids and children placed into a family,” Winchester said. “We also continue to offer support post-adoption.”
How it works
It’s been said that it takes a village to raise a child. It takes an entire community, though, to serve all at-risk youth.
Winchester, a certified foster parent herself, wants to be best friends with anyone who fosters youth and any community partners or organizations that can help families.
Sweet Potato’s Closet works with several local and regional organizations, including Child Protective Services, the Department of Human Services, Umatilla-Morrow Head Start, Good Shepherd ConneXions, Community Counseling Solutions, COPES, Stepping Stones Alliance, Agape House, Martha’s House and more.
“If they help, I want to be their friend,” said Winchester. “These kids have physical needs that must be met, and I’d like to make everyone a community partner.”
Personal donations, support from local businesses and grants keep Sweet Potato’s Closet stocked with essentials for foster families and at-risk youth.
Donations of clothes and toiletries are always welcome, however, the greatest need is often consumable or usable products, such as baby formula and laundry soap, according to Winchester.
Sweet Potato’s Closet relies on grants and has received funding in the past from the Oregon Community Foundation, the Good Shepherd Community Health Foundation, Project Lemonade, AWS InCommunities, and the Blue Mountain Community Foundation.
How to get involved
“The need is great, a lot of families are in crisis struggling to keep kids clean and clothed every month,” said Winchester. “When people donate, we can remove that barrier.”
Donations of new or gently used items are always accepted and can be dropped off whenever Sweet Potato’s Closet is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday. A list of accepted donation items is available online.
Winchester is the sole employee of Sweet Potato’s Closet and relies on the help and support of volunteers, as most of the funding that comes in goes toward buying supplies, including diapers, wipes and nonprofit shopping to keep shelves stocked.
Monetary donations to support Sweet Potato’s Closet may also be made in-person or online. All donations are used for general operating costs and the essentials that foster families may need.
Drop-in volunteers are always welcome and can stop by during business hours, get trained and start helping. Volunteering at home opportunities, that involve checking out a tote of clothing, checking it for quality, washing, folding and returning it are also available.
“We are radically thankful for the generosity of our community and proud that we get to know and support kids and families in such a meaningful way,” said Winchester.
The future
The original “Sweet Potato,” the baby that came to live with Winchester in 2019, is now back with her birth mother and thriving.
“It’s great, a happy ending,” said Winchester. “We’re still friends.”
As for the teenager that came to Winchester during COVID, causing her to start stockpiling clothes and essential items? She too is thriving and will head off to college in the fall.
From her living room to storage units and now Main Street, Sweet Potato’s Closet continues to support foster families and at-risk youth.
In the future Winchester would like to open a Sweet Potato’s Closet in Pendleton to serve even more clients in Eastern Oregon.
“We can’t grow as a community if we haven’t taken care of our kids,” said Winchester. “Without our support they can’t grow into the best versions of themselves.”
