Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Resale shop helps needy; bargains offered to all

Gurdon's 2nd Chance Resale Shop is now open under volunteer management of Jan Chism.

The store is sponsored by the Courage House in Arkadelphia.

Courage House was established in 1984 as a community response to the problem of providing services to battered women and children in the area. The emergency shelter operates 24-hours-a-day annually and has a 25-bed capacity with a professional staff to help those in need.

Currently, Courage House serves approximately 370 women and children each year in emergency and outreach programs from the Clark, Pike, Hot Springs, Dallas and Nevada counties.

Many or most of the women and families coming into the shelter come wearing the only thing they have.

The 2nd Chance store allows these people to bring a voucher into the store and gather items needed to start over.

The shop contains such items as women's, men's children's and infant clothing, shoes for the entire family, jewelry, lingerie, toys, bedding, appliances and many more items. The merchandise is not available to the entire public. Blouses and shirts are $2, dresses $3, sweaters $2, pants $2, jeans $4 and infant clothes are 50 cents.

"We try to keep everything marked below $5 if possible," said Chism.

Chism said she has managed a thrift store and enjoys the business.

Chism said the job she has now is strictly on a volunteer basis and she enjoys helping people and knowing people have somewhere to turn.

Anyone wishing to volunteer at the shop is welcome. Chism said, "There is always something to be priced or packed or moved and we are working everyday to clean the building. We had a sorority from Ouachita Baptist University come and scrap old paint off the building just the other day."

Donations are always accepted at the store. Anything brought in is a tax deductible donation. The person making the donation decides the value and the store writes a receipt.

The store is open on Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Friday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. until noon.

Anyone needing help or wanting to make a donation outside of store hours can contact Chism at (870) 353-6416.

It is preferred to have items donated during store hours or by contacting Chism.