Friday, Feb. 27 was a cold day in Carrboro, but at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the town’s newly reopened thrift store, there was plenty of warmth to be found. Local officials, Extraordinary Ventures employees, and eager shoppers alike braved the rain to celebrate the occasion.
“Extraordinary things will happen here,” Carrboro Mayor Barbara Foushee said to get the event started. “We will have extraordinary people employed here, extraordinary customers that will come in and buy merchandise.”
The store was previously operated by the nonprofit CommunityWorx. It’s now a part of a collection of businesses run by Extraordinary Ventures, a nonprofit dedicated to providing employment opportunities for IDD individuals, or people with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Foushee described her own personal experience with IDD individuals and the important role employment can play in their lives.
“My brother passed away when he was 29 years old,” she told the crowd. “He had cancer, but he also was born with mental, intellectual, and physical deficiencies. And in that 29 years, he graduated from high school. He attended the community college. He worked at a store up the street from our house. They loved him at that store. And he had a girlfriend, so he lived a very full life.”
“And from [Extraordinary’s] website, it uses the term overlooked workforce,” the mayor concluded. “We’re talking about our neurodivergent and IDD community, which you will come into contact with right here at the Extraordinary Thrift Shop!”
Ribbon cutting attendees and shoppers begin to explore the updated space. (Image via Henry Taylor/Chapel Hill Media Group)
Lisa Kaylie, the executive director of Extraordinary Ventures, described the store and nonprofit’s mission to the crowd.
“As Barbara noted, [neurodivergent people are] an often overlooked workforce, one with an unemployment rate of nearly 80%,” she said. “And that’s not because of lack of talent or ability, that’s just because of stigma. And we are going to prove them wrong.”
To start, the store will employ ten IDD workers and 14 neurotypical workers, with the goal of adding ten more neurodiverse workers in the coming weeks. Kaylie said the store uses simple methods to make sure employees understand expectations.
“We have folders for each of the employees when they come in,” she said. “So they know what their tasks for the day are. It’s just a matter of breaking down tasks. And then afterwards we find that IDD employees are highly motivated and they do very well after short training time.”
Shoppers explore Extraordinary Thrift Store’s expanded clothing section following the ribbon cutting. (Image via Henry Taylor/Chapel Hill Media Group)
She said much of the work preparing to reopen has come from a need to restructure and revitalize the store space to make it more efficient for both IDD employees and customers. The space is brighter and far less cluttered, with neat rows of shelves and an expanded clothes section.
“It’s just been a whirlwind of activity,” she said. “I feel like a lot of people, when they talk about inclusive employment of disabled people, they always talk about the accommodations that are necessary for them to work in the workplace. But actually what’s needed is good universal design. So basically having a structured, clean workplace is not just good for IDD employees. It’s good for everyone.”
New shelving aims to deliver a more organized shopping experience, while making the space easier to navigate for IDD workers. (Image via Henry Taylor/Chapel Hill Media Group)
One worker at the thrift store is Patrick Eden, a managerial assistant at Extraordinary Ventures who is on the autism spectrum.
“I am kind of drifting between helping with electronics and jewelry with more of a leaning toward electronics, and helping set up that department as well,” he said. Eden is new to the thrift store, but not new to Extraordinary Ventures.
“Realistically it was my mom that first found out about them and she helped get me through the door,” he said. “But that was like, what, 14 years ago now? So I’ve been here for a while. I started with their laundry service, was there for 12 years. To the month in fact.”
And now, while he helps organize the store’s electronics section, he’s also studying for his CompTIA A+ certification to perform entry level IT work. But for the time being, he said he’s enjoying his work at the store.
“It’s been pretty cool. I met some faces that I haven’t seen in a very long time ’cause um, I actually volunteered here for a little while at, when it was like the PTA thrift store. Yeah, it’s been going well. It’s nice to be around ‘normal people,’ but I mean, who the heck is normal?”
The thrift store will be open from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and will open at noon on Sundays. The store will not be open Mondays. Donations and drop offs end at 5 p.m. You can find more information on the thrift store’s website.
Featured image via Henry Taylor/Chapel Hill Media Group
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