Tony’s Closet honors late facilities manager in San Mateo

“We know that the clients [CORA] will be serving are going through a very challenging process,” HIF Executive Director Steve Sullivan said. “The clients that [CORA is] serving deserve an opportunity to do that work in beautiful spaces, and functional spaces.”

The closet’s namesake, Tony Myles, was the facilities manager of CORA and a major proponent for the establishment of this faux store. A month before its grand opening, Myles died in a motorcycle accident and the original alliterative name CORA’s Closet was changed in his honor.

Honoring Myles’ dedication, CORA Board Member Michelle Fowler expressed during the opening ceremony just how vital he was to the project’s creation, and to the joy along the way as he made sure to celebrate each milestone. 

“A week before he passed away, we walked through the closet and I have to admit that we were truly giddy with excitement because this was finally coming true,” Fowler said. “We could give our CORA clients a safe place where they could feel dignified, respected, special, and most of all loved.”

Myles’ family was in attendance at the grand opening and his wife, Cricket, said she could see him reflected in the lavender walls — “we have the same color in our bathroom now.”

“He really wanted this so bad, he was so happy working here,” Cricket Myles said. “He was always a helper, he was put here to help people.” 

That fervor to help shined through his desire to always find an answer to any problem that arose throughout the multiyear process of establishing the closet. CORA Chief Executive Officer Karen Ferguson said he always found a way to make things work. 

“He was just a master of figuring it out,” Ferguson said. “He knew how to ask for what needed to be new when it needed to be new, and always what to work with when we needed to just work with it.” 

Knowing when it is necessary to go the extra mile and buy the nicer cabinets or find just the right shade of paint was driven by an overarching desire to make CORA clients feel valued. 

San Mateo Councilmember Amourence Lee, who is both a CORA supporter and client, said she was overwhelmed with emotions when she first saw Tony’s Closet and was proud to have this resource for survivors throughout the county.  

“This has such a positive impact on survivors who are faced with the worst possible decisions and paying the highest price of freedom,” Lee said. “It’s these kinds of ideas that make that cost of freedom just a little bit less painful, a little bit more gentle.” 

Tony’s Closet resembles any home goods store, however, in place of numbers on price tags, notes of encouragement and hearts are handwritten. Items range from pots and pans to toys for children — nothing is secondhand. 

Though any donation to those in need is appreciated, CORA Executive Director Karen Ferguson said there can be unintended messaging when a survivor is given items that have already been used. 

“There’s a sense that you’re less than, and we want to make sure they know how deserving they are of nice things,” Ferguson said.

Through community donations, CORA offers exclusively new items. 

The current inventory was gathered through goods drives at Notre Dame High School in Belmont, and CORA will update and maintain its myregistry.com wishlist at https://shorturl.at/ijOPV as it gauges which items are needed for replenishing.