I got in touch with Haven, and they will take my mom's clothes! The women they help (battered/abused women who get temporary housing in special protective shelters) get their pick of the stuff, and whatever they don't pick gets sold in their thrift store. All proceeds from the store go right back into helping the women - often with things such as acquiring drivers licenses and passports (for example, it's not a full list).
I will always recommend giving directly to the people you intend to receive the help. If you want to help an animal shelter, donate blankets and newspapers, old cages and crates, current coupons for pet food, and of course pet food and litter. If you want to donate to the homeless, find out where the shelters are, and donate directly to them. Or - grab a tall kitchen garbage bag, fill it with clean, unstained, unripped clothing that looks like it'll probably fit the local homeless person you see outside Walmart, and just hand it to them.
Thrift shops are great if they're run and manned by volunteers. If they have paid employees who are not direct beneficiaries of the charity they represent (such as a homeless person getting a part time job there), then it's that many degrees of separation away from the charity you're trying to support.
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