Community Action House is expanding its resale store operations with a second location at 650 Riley Street in Holland, creating new opportunities for neighbors to shop, donate and volunteer while supporting local families in need.
The nonprofit's resale store serves as the "financial engine" for Community Action House operations, with revenue helping purchase food for their pantry and supporting other community programs. The new north-side location aims to double the organization's revenue.
"As things get to move in and stabilize, we should be able to hopefully triple what we currently do," James Smead said.
Smead, Community Action House's director of resale, expects the expansion to significantly boost their impact.
"It's going to help us connect with community members that might not have known that we're even in town right now, and it's also going to make it much easier for us to interact with guests that are on the north side, that don't have to travel all the way to the south side," Smead said.
The stores offer refurbished donated goods that neighbors can purchase or receive free through the organization's voucher program.
"We do have our guests come in with vouchers so they can get warm clothing, household goods, furniture, anything that they need free of charge," Prairie Householder said.
Householder will manage the new Riley Street location, which she said is in need of volunteers.
"We're very excited to have not just new guests, new clientele, new customers, but also people new to Community Action House," Householder said. "We need a full complement of stockers, of processors, of register people, and just people to help us promote our mission."
For two-year volunteer Judy Vander Zwaag, giving back through the resale store brings personal fulfillment.
"It's pretty heartwarming when somebody does come in with a voucher to be able to say, shop away and get what you need," Vander Zwaag said. "It's just a warm, loving place."
Community Action House encourages donors to bring items to their current south-side location for processing.
"Don't wait until we're in our second space on the north side. Please bring your donations to our current south location so we can get those processed and ready to go into the new resale store," Smead said.
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