Photos by Ralph Freso
Maps of the Valley and the United States that hover over Connor Froysland’s desk at Grand Canyon University could easily represent a 1970s U.S. geography classroom.
But it also represents Froysland’s ambitious plans for making lives more comfortable for the less fortunate across the country, and not just in Arizona, through his nonprofit, Callahan Care.
Froysland, who earned his bachelor’s degree in government with an emphasis in legal studies from GCU in 2023, has gained momentum with his Callahan Care Open Closet, which provides free clothing, shoes backpacks, toys, school supplies and toiletries and recently gained a valuable partner in GCU CityServe.
Students can enter an Open Closet with their families through a referral by the district or a social worker, or by approaching a teacher for help.
The first Open Closet opened at Peoria Elementary School in spring 2023, and another site opened at the Glendale Elementary School District System of Care Center in November.
“The more we kind of dipped into our faith aspect of it, the more we've seen growth for such a long period of time,” said Froysland, chief executive officer and founder of Callahan Care. “I'm a very logical person. So I was very concerned about, ‘This doesn't make sense. If we do this, this isn't going to work.’
“But the more we just started giving, the more we started receiving, the more districts wanted to partner with us, the more stores wanted to partner, and the more help we started receiving.”
Callahan Care recently registered as a qualified charitable organization, which allows people to donate money to the company as an Arizona tax credit instead of paying state government taxes.
And what started as a nonprofit named after his grandparents has swelled from serving 50 people a month at its inception to 1,100 families a month throughout Callahan Care's Open Stores.
Open Closets have been built at Title-1 schools Alta Loma, Sun Valley, Peoria, Cotton Boll, Oasis and Ocotillo elementary schools, Centennial High School and System of Care Center.
Callahan Care now touts seven district partners, with close to 30 districts on a waiting list. Froysland estimates about seven Open Closets will be built over the next five months.
GCU CityServe has provided Open Closets with home products from CityServe’s campus warehouse. And that’s just part of the growth Callahan Care has experienced.
“Now we’re offering around six services to the districts we partner with,” Froysland said.
Two of the biggest additions are a pantry and delivery system. All but one Open Closet has an Open Pantry, which carries essential food items and water, juice and staples needed for daily living. No families have been turned away from Open Closets.
Students cannot be turned away from Open Pantries if they approach a teacher in need of food. Families requiring food support can reach a social worker to assess their situation or may be identified through district channels.
Each Open Pantry carries around 500 cans of food.
GCU CityServe, led by Director Nathan Cooper, has supplied more than 10,000 pieces of clothing that are stored in Building 71, which serves as one of a few Callahan Care mini-warehouses strategically placed throughout Arizona.
Cooper has been impressed by Froysland’s determination.
“It was going through boxes and bags, and you want to create a dignified experience for the families,” Cooper said. “And so that's where this all was.”
The mini-warehouses have enabled Callahan Care to accelerate its delivery process. According to Froysland, should a family request a bed, the Open Closet workers place the bed on a pallet so one of the church partners can pick it up and deliver the bed to the family’s home free of charge.
“For the longest time, that was taking two to three weeks,” Froysland said. “And restocking our stores was taking a month. Our biggest goal is to ensure that if you need services, you have a place to get services.”
The expansion of mini-warehouses and community volunteers – which includes 17 GCU students a day through the Canyon Christian Schools Consortium (CCSC) – has made it possible for deliveries to be completed for free within a week, Froysland said.
And each Open Closet has a resource center designed to connect families to services, such as medical care, dental and vision services, and laundry facilities throughout Arizona.
Callahan Care also is working with GCU to provide classes to students in low economic areas. An agreement with CCSC was reached so that CCSC students can instruct families.
Froysland wants to expand as fast as possible to meet the demands of those in need. Callahan Care’s contract with each district allows it to hold two community events that it can publicize to every family and student in each district. Plans are in the works with a few partners to conduct a Christmas celebration to assist families with presents.
Froysland has not taken time to look back at the last eight months, glancing at his map as motivation.
“I know it's going to sound weird, but we're very future-focused,” Froysland said. “And sometimes we can get lost in that expansion. So we have to sit ourselves down and look at the past. We have a goal where I have a map up here and we can see only Arizona's position, but within the next two years, we want to be in five states and then, years after that, we want to continue growing.
“Since we have our eyes so far focused forward, it can be a pretty difficult thing to remember how much we've grown.”
GCU News Senior Writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
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