on the cover / By Yelena Kisler

Thrift Store Angels

The government programs that direct youth to Angels of Hope also pay them for the hours they work. The store is able to provide such low prices because they only have to make enough to maintain the store. Their only costs are the overhead on the building, the electricity, rent and so on, and the three employees. Everyone else who works at the store is paid by ILS, Welfare-to-Work or another participating program, or is a volunteer.

When her case worker was trying to help Eva figure out what she wanted to do, Eva say all she could come up with was things she didn’t want to do, like office work and traditional retail. “When [the case worker] mentioned the thrift store I kind of perked up and said, ‘Well, that sounds nice,’” Eva says.

She started off only working two five-hour shifts a week and has since been hired by the store full-time. She is now one of the store’s three regular employees. Nowadays she coordinates the employees and assigns them their daily tasks, answers any questions from people dropping off donations or customers and runs the store in the manager’s absence. At times it gets hectic.

“Every time I’m getting into a project I get interrupted,” she says. As soon as she utters the sentence, one of the newer employees, Chelsea, walks up. “What should I charge this guy for the trundle bed?” she asks Eva. “Thirty bucks,” Eva replies, then swiftly changes her mind. “Eh, give it to him for $25.” Eva turns and chuckles: “See what I mean?”

Through programs like Youth Ability, young people in difficult situations can learn to get out on their own with the basic work skills they need to keep themselves off the streets. According to Shannon and Eva, Mike has made significant progress in his time at the store. He always went above and beyond what was expected of him. “He was my favorite employee ever,” says Eva. “He was the kind of guy that would clock out at the end of the day and still stay and finish what needed to be done. He would always grab the heavy box out of my hands and take it up the stairs.”

Mike’s diligence has translated well into his new job at Baywood Golf and Country Club. “He is a hard worker,” says head chef Shammah Sulouff. “He is willing to try anything [asked of him], and is not afraid to learn or make mistakes.”

Mike says he is really enjoying his new job but that it is a totally different atmosphere than the store. “At [Angels] he was in a world of females surrounded by clothes,” says Shammah. “Here, most of the employees are men. He seems to like the camaraderie. He is always smiling, always positive.”

Mike, Eva and Angels of Hope stand as a reminder that job training programs can and do succeed.

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