Street store restores humanity to homeless
Three Upper Highway schools and three highway churches have joined forces for the third annual pop-up Street Store for the homeless.
“THERE is a name behind the face, there is a story there, and a family and it is not about ticking boxes but about creating dignity for the homeless,” said St Mary’s DSG’s head of high school, Jo Kinsey, on the Street Store initiative.
The Street Store is the first pop-up store for the homeless and can be created in any community around the world, where the homeless shop for free.
This is the third year the three Upper Highway Schools have hosted this event and it has continued to grow.
ALSO READ: Support pop-up Street Store
During its first year, the three schools and three churches hosted one store attracting about 1 200 shoppers. The following year, each school partnered with a church to host separate stores and widen its reach.
At each store there are hundreds of cleaned, second-hand clothing and a volunteer shop assistant who helps patrons shop for the items they need.
“For me, it comes back down to the drive of humanity and it’s this concept that sometimes gets left out of large outreach projects. We lost the humanity in them. This is all voluntary, the patrons are served sandwiches and are given a beverage and each shop assistant takes an interest in the individual,” said Jo.
The clothing available is all packed and sorted beforehand, fencing is set up to help control the crowds and the aim is to have no clothing left at the end of the day as each shopper can choose between five to 10 items. A second, smaller Street Store will be set up if there are any garments left over.
“If there are still items left behind we will then find a charity in need and donate it,” said Jo.
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