UniCycle is a volunteer-led 501(c)(3) that supports and supplements the work of the Homeless Education Resource Office within Metro Nashville Public Schools. Through volunteer organization, collection drives, fundraising and signature programs including UniCycle Closets and the HERO Family Fund, community resources are secured and shared to remove barriers to education for students experiencing homelessness.

Uniform + Recycle = UniCycle!

The UniCycle Closet program provides school clothing to students in need within the Metro Nashville Public School system by collecting gently-used items in schools and distributing them at the school level and through a spartnership with the Homeless Education Resource Office. We answer the question of "What can I do with my child's outgrown school clothing?" while removing an obstacle to education for students in need, lessening the workload for MNPS support staff, offering more clothing choices to students whose families have limited budgets, and giving new life to clothing that is "outgrown, not worn out."

HERO Family Fund

The HERO Family Fund was launched in 2023 and allows HERO outreach workers to provide basic, critical needs to families immediately. The fund is used for items that are integral to a student or family's progress, but are not readily available through other community resources. Examples include gas cards or ride-share vouchers; medications or specific healthcare or hygiene products; critical household essentials and work-related items.

We firmly believe that access to school uniforms and basic needs are obstacles to education that can be resolved on the community level, and that by doing so, we can not only bring positive attention to the nearly 4,500 students navigating unstable housing each year in our city, but also free up time and resources on the school support staff end so that everyone can better focus on their own piece of the network that it takes to support our most vulnerable students.

We run on donations! Here's what we collect and use to stock 139 public school closets citywide and distribute direct to students in unstable housing:

School uniform items - khaki, black or navy pants, shorts, skirts or uniform jumpers or dresses, plus solid-color polo-style shirts. All sizes.

Dress-code-appropriate non-uniform school clothing - we primarily need athletic shorts and joggers, leggings and jeans plus t-shirts and hoodies or other outer layers (fleece zip-ups, sweatshirts, etc.)

NEW UNDERWEAR for boys and girls in ALL sizes - youth 5 through adult XXL

Coats! Year round.

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UniCycle supports MNPS students and particularly those in the Homeless Education Resource Office in myriad ways, including our signature UniCycle Closet program, but also by organizing collection drives and volunteers for other HERO initiatives such as the HERO Pantry, HERO Family Fund, an annual coat drive and ongoing school supply collections. Donations can be made to support our work or specifically to the HERO Family Fund, which covers critical necessities for MNPS families in unstable housing on a day-to-day basis.

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