So here’s something exciting – WE GOT A STORAGE UNIT!!
But it’s not for what you think : )
OK, well maybe it is a *little* for what you think as we will be storing stuff in there, however, the bigger plan is to experiment with opening it up as a “Free Store” once a month for anyone who wants to shop! All 100% for free of course 🙏
My friend Tina Jackson shared a story about a guy doing this in Long Island and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head since. It’s such a fantastic idea!
It also helps us in 3 major ways:
#1. It expands the communities we’re helping, venturing into South Stafford.
Admittedly not our core community (I live in South Stafford so the unit had to be convenient!), but I also feel like if we can seamlessly help others without much added effort, AND it solves other issues our organization is having, then we should probably give it a shot. It can’t hurt helping more people, right?!
#2. It better utilizes the remaining clothes we have left over each week after our pop-ups!
Currently we do a Monday pop-up for the unhoused community, a Tuesday pop-up for those with lower-income, and then whatever’s left over from there we re-distribute to other local non-profits for another shot of life.
These redistributions, however, are getting larger and larger with all the donations coming in, so the epiphany I had the other night in the shower (always in the shower!), was that this storage unit could also help solve that issue as well. Giving us one more avenue to give out clothes each month before they move on to greener pastures!
#3. And lastly, this unit allows us to give away items we typically don’t have room for, such as dress clothes, small appliances, home decor, etc.
Our closet is getting treated more and more like a Goodwill lately, lol, which I don’t mind – it’s cool to see! – however bandwidth wise we usually aren’t able to accept everything people so graciously wish to donate.
With this new unit though, I’m hoping to be able to say “yes” a lot more to these gifts and start expanding our offerings! In fact, I just said “yes” to a free microwave this morning – thanks Elizabeth : )
So a new adventure awaits! And if it fails spectacularly? Well, we just scratch it off the list and move on to the next idea! The good thing about storage units vs store fronts is that you’re on month-to-month leases…
Wish us luck!