An opportunity to generate additional income, help clients in a new way and hopefully reach new ones took root last fall for one small-town Texas pregnancy center. In March that prospect will begin to bloom.
The Open Door Pregnancy & Family Resource Center, located in Cisco, Texas, plans to launch a resale store in the community. The endeavor could result in new ministry opportunities, and the center’s clients can learn various job skills through paid internships, said Shannon Thompson, Open Door’s executive director.
“This is not only going to be a wonderful place for people to bring gently used items that we sell to the public,” Thompson said, “but we can also offer additional ministry opportunities.”
“We’re giving our clients an opportunity for a six-month paid internship too,” she said, “providing job skills and training to learn different aspects of the retail business, everything from knowing how to dress appropriately for a job and how to answer the phone system to marketing and accounting.”
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The idea for a resale store developed last year after The Open Door received so many material donations that Thompson and her staff ran out of room. They began donating to other organizations, but the time taken from the center’s mission made this endeavor inconvenient. Upon learning about an organization in another community and the various projects with which they were involved, such as a food pantry, job training, and a resale store, Thompson visited to learn more.
“It’s absolutely beautiful,” she said of that organization’s store. “It’s like walking into a nice boutique.”
Thompson approached her board of directors and pitched the idea.
“I thought we could do that at our center because we already had so much that we were distributing out to other locations,” she said. “Everyone agreed we should do more research.”
Upon learning about the idea, a volunteer stepped forward, eager and excited to help.
“She said, ‘I want to do it,’” Thompson said. “She was a manager for Pier One Imports, and she said ‘I’ve set up stores, and I know the retail business. I want to do this for you.”
Open Door Store entrance/Open Door street side
Cisco is also the location of the first Hilton Hotels, and family members live in the area, she said, adding, “They told us, ‘We want to get behind this; we want to support that and help that.’ So, they did.”
The Hilton family also allowed her to apply for additional grants, she added.
Upon deciding to move forward with the resale store, the next step involved finding a building.
After a few meetings with one family, Thompson learned as she looked at other locations that the family decided to let Open Door use their building, located right downtown. The building needed a great deal of remodeling. As that progressed, a woman closing her store provided display cases, mannequins, and shelves. The center gained 20 new volunteers as well.
“God has just lined everything up, and it has just fallen into place,” Thompson said.
“The miracle of it all!” she exclaimed. “We started discussing this idea back in October and November of last year and here it is going into March and the building is finished. We've got clothes washed, steamed, and ready to go.”
The store name reflects the center: The Open Door Store.
“We didn’t wander too far” Thompson said. “It just made sense.”
Thompson plans a grand opening on March 15. The store will have hours Tuesday through Saturday.
In addition to the paid internships, pregnancy center clients can take classes to learn how to fill out a job application and create a resume. The center will also provide information on finding quality childcare and the numerous community resources available. Clients will also learn fiscal responsibility.
“We'll work with them on learning to budget now that they’re making money, or making better money,” Thompson said. “They’ll learn the difference between a want and a need. They’ll learn not only job skills but life skills.”
“Now that this woman and family have decided to keep this child and parent, we want that child to have the best possible life,” she said. “That means helping the family to be whole and healthy in every aspect, from the spiritual and emotional to the financial.”
Critics of pregnancy centers often say they only care about saving babies, not about what happens to them and the woman afterward. Thompson and her staff, board, and volunteers show that statement to be a falsehood.
“We know that families and individuals do better when they do better financially,” she said, “and so this is the full circle of the ministry/”
“We've talked to this woman and now she’s going to have this baby,” Thompson said. “So now we're going to help her come out on the other side better than when she started this pregnancy.”
