Cleveland's First Foster Care Closet

'We see you': Inside Cleveland's first foster care closet, where every child gets to choose
Lindsay Buckingham, WKYC, March 23, 2026.

Kathy DiVincenzo founded Honey from the Rock after discovering Cuyahoga County leads Ohio in children experiencing foster care — and nothing like this existed.

Walk through the doors of Honey from the Rock and it doesn't feel like a charity warehouse — it feels like a boutique.

That's exactly the point.

Racks of clothing organized by size, shelves lined with books and hygiene products, stuffed animals donated by the Cleveland Monsters from their annual teddy bear toss — every inch of this 9,500-square-foot space in Cleveland was built with one word in mind: dignity.

"The goal is, 'Can we make it look like a boutique? Can we elevate that experience for them?' And we can only do it through community support," said Kathy DiVincenzo, founder and executive director of Honey from the Rock — Cleveland's first foster care closet.

DiVincenzo knows firsthand what foster families need. As a foster parent herself, she didn't find her purpose in a boardroom — she found it in her own home.

"I always say that I found my purpose in proximity," she said. "It wasn't until I literally lived the need that I saw the need. Here in Cuyahoga County, we lead in the number of kids experiencing foster care in the state of Ohio."

That statistic stopped her cold — and motivated her to act. In January of last year, what DiVincenzo thought would be a small closet opened its doors as a 9,500-square-foot community hub. She was shocked to find nothing like it existed before.

"I was shocked to find that there wasn't a resource like this prior to us starting it," she said.

Support from Honey from the Rock begins the moment a child enters the foster care system — even before they arrive at the space.

"Our support actually starts the moment they come into care in Metro Health Triage," DiVincenzo explained. "We have what's called our Gap Pack program, providing that emergent support for a child coming into the triage process. And then we have our emergency order within 48 hours."

After that initial support, children can return up to four times a year — either shopping in the boutique in person or placing a custom curbside order, similar to a Target Drive Up experience.

But what sets Honey From the Rock apart isn't just the resources — it's the philosophy behind every single order.

"Every child who walks through these doors gets something most of us take for granted: a choice," DiVincenzo said. "Being able to bring them into a space like this and they get to literally choose their own style — we just had a 14-year-old shopping last night who had a style where if I was packing her emergency order, I wouldn't have expected from her. So being able to welcome them in and say, 'Who are you?' Let's discover that sometimes for the first time together of a safe space that they can really choose who they want to be and how they want to represent themselves."

That philosophy carries into every custom order — down to the last detail.

"We even had Sonic socks that we were able to find for a little dude that loves Sonic," DiVincenzo said. "So each and every element of the order is saying, 'We see you, and what you love really matters to us.'"

And Cleveland, DiVincenzo says, has shown up in a way that moves her to tears.

"Watching Cleveland link arms ... there is truly nothing better than to be able to see a need and with the help of Cleveland to be able to fill it."

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

Honey from the Rock welcomes the community to get involved in three ways:

• You can volunteer as a worker bee, coming in to pack custom orders and sort donations.
• You can donate new or like-new items every Wednesday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. — just pull up curbside and volunteers will handle the rest.
• You can give online.