ROANOKE, Va. – Having the proper clothing means everything, and the Rescue Mission wants to help the most vulnerable with its new voucher store that opened last month.
The store has clothing ranging from jeans, tops, professional wear, children’s wear and shoes.
The good news is everything is free.
Here’s how it works. Anyone receiving Rescue Mission services receives $30 every six months. Someone can then use that money in the store.
Mission leaders said dozens of people shop here every day. Marketing and Communications Director Kevin Berry said it’s important to have the store so everyone can have the proper clothing.
“When you have clothes that don’t have rips and tears or stains in them, it gives you a sense of dignity and a feeling of pride of how you look and how you’re walking around and presenting yourself, and that not only translates not just to your everyday life, but as I was talking about, that’s about interviews and when you go in and you present yourself to a potential employer it makes the difference in the world,” said Berry.
All of the clothes at the voucher store are donated. So far, about 5,500 people have donated clothing. The store also sells calendars, keychains and bags.
“A lot of people have nothing, and when they come here, they have nothing. Then they have everything, and then they leave it behind. A lot of time it helps a lot,” said Goodwill Worker Sharon Garber.
The Rescue Mission does have two other stores. The first one is Second Helpings, and the second one called Thrift 460 is a voucher store as well.
Volunteer Cheryl McCormick said the new voucher store is much needed for this community.
“These people need something close by, so they don’t need to wait for a shuttle bus or for transportation to take them to one of our other two stores. This is so handy,” said McCormick.
The new voucher store is only open three days a week. They’re open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9 a.m to 11:30 a.m. It’s located right across the street from the Rescue Mission.
You can make a donation here.