ENCORE Resale Shop
Mission Statement: "To provide economic opportunities for participants through environmentally responsive strategies"
In 2008, Help-In-Crisis applied for and received a grant from the Sarkeys Foundation in Norman, Oklahoma, to establish a resale shop. The focus of the project is to develop practical job skills for the women in the HIC shelter, provide valuable on-the-job training, and give the women experience in working with the public. The grant provided start-up funding as well as six months of operating expenses. The name Encore was selected to suggest that the shop could provide a new life for the women living in the shelter, as well as new life for the donated items.
Women and children housed in the Help-In-Crisis shelter will be given vouchers to use to obtain articles of clothing at Encore. If there are other items they would like to have, they can volunteer at the shop to earn additional vouchers.
Encore will provide an opportunity for women in the HIC shelter, especially the older women and teens, to learn retail and marketing skills to help them obtain employment once they leave. Some may choose to work in the resale shop to earn a little money. Plans for the future include providing instruction in establishing and operating a home-based business and conducting internet marketing.
Through the generosity of Gary Chapman, HIC was able to rent a 7000-square-foot building, only one block from the HIC offices. In March 2009, Bruce Booremans was hired as Encore's manager, and he immediately began overseeing the renovation of the building. Within weeks, interiors walls were torn down, old carpeting removed, walls painted, and new flooring installed.
In March, students from the Talking Leaves Job Corps volunteered to help with the renovation, and several dozen students from Northeastern State University chose the resale shop renovation as their volunteer activity during the university's "Big Event," a one-day community service project. An NSU marketing class will create a marketing plan for Encore as their class project.
Because of famly commitments, Bruce Booremans resigned, and Connie Walker was hired as the new Encore manager. Her experience with resale shop management was invaluable in preparing Encore for its opening.
The Grand Opening of Encore was held Friday, May 15, 2009. The shop is proving to be a success on several levels:
1. Revenue helps support Help-In-Crisis programs
2. Women in the shelter can learn retail and marketing skills that may aid them in obtaining employment
3. A previously empty building has become an attractive retail space
4. Tax revenue from sales benefits the community
5. In an era when there is more "green" talk than action, Encore gives a second life to items that might otherwise go to a landfill
(Click on the link at the top of this page to view Encore photographs)
