TOWNSEND — Helping Hands has supported Townsend families for nearly a decade, but now the nonprofit is facing a challenge of its own—finding and funding a new building to keep its services going.
“It's just a necessary thing, our community needs it,” said Helping Hands 4 Kids manager Sheila Heavirland.
(WATCH: Helping Hands Townsend looking to buy new building)
Since 2016, their stores have given lower-income families a place to buy necessary items at reasonable prices as well as provide volunteer opportunities for community members.
In June, they were forced to close their leased Pine Street location after that building was put up for sale by the owners.
Right now, they’re renting their location on Broadway, but hope to find a more permanent situation.
“This building's been put up for sale twice, and so we kind of are always on edge as to whether we have a home next month or not,” Heavirland said.
They may have found an option, right across the street.
Staff are hoping to raise enough funds to buy the building with enough space to serve the original mission of helping hands.
“We would have more room for the things that we do get in,” said volunteer Leslie Heisey. “A lot of it gets stored because we don't have enough room. everything's so full, you can't see what's there.”
Heavirland says they’ve tried to make the best of their limited space since the Pine Street location closed, including incorporating adult items.
“Since it went away in June, we’ve tried to incorporate some of that here in this building, but we don't have a lot of space, and so that’s been very limited,” Heavirland said.
Heavirland says they’ll need $60,000 for a downpayment and sit at just over $19,000 in their fundraising account.
People can make donations to the Helping Hands Building Fund through Opportunity Bank.
More information about the non-profit, its services, and ways to volunteer can be found here.
More information about their Pine Street location closing can be found here.
