by Dennis Dalman
news@thenewsleaders.com
A St. Cloud Family Thrift Store, which will benefit clients of the Salvation Army, will open sometime in late July or early August in St. Cloud.
It will be located in the former Hoye Home Furnishings building at 55 Park Ave. S. Collections are being accepted now.
The store will be operated by the Minneapolis-based Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center, which offers year-round programming for people in the clutches of addiction to drugs and/or alcohol and people trying to get on their feet to start a new life. People from the greater St. Cloud area, including some at the Salvation Army, can be referred to the Minneapolis rehabilitation center. In addition, the store will be a good asset to the Salvation Army for yet another reason, said Sartell resident Jim Muellenbach, community-services director for the St. Cloud-based Salvation Army. People transitioning from the Salvation Army into their own apartments will be given vouchers that can be used to obtain furniture and other household items with which to furnish their newly found apartments. They’ll also be able to get clothing and shoes at the thrift store.
Muellenbach said about 10-12 people staying temporarily at the Salvation Army transition into their own apartments every month. The thrift-store service, he said, will be a welcome asset to help those people get a headstart on a new life.
“It will definitely benefit us and our clients,” Muellenbach said.
There are close to 30 Salvation Army thrift stores in Minnesota, including nine in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. There used to be a thrift store in East St. Cloud, but it closed seven years ago when the Salvation Army moved into its new headquarters along Hwy. 10.
Information will soon be announced via the media as to how people in the greater St. Cloud area can have any cast-off goods picked up free to be sold at the new thrift store.