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Jennifer Cha Rach (right) and Hannah Moore work on pricing and displaying items inside Catch My Thrift, which is having a grand opening Friday morning at its location on Calder Avenue. Photo made Wednesday, September 21, 2022 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise

Hannah Moore sorts through the last box of donations as she and co-workers prepare Catch My Thrift for its grand opening Friday morning at its location on Calder Avenue. Photo made Wednesday, September 21, 2022 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise

Jennifer Cha Rach works on pricing and displaying items inside Catch My Thrift, which is having a grand opening Friday morning at its location on Calder Avenue. Photo made Wednesday, September 21, 2022 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise

Catch My Thrift s having a grand opening Friday morning at its location on Calder Avenue. Photo made Wednesday, September 21, 2022 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise

Jennifer Cha Rach (right) and Hannah Moore work on preparing Catch My Thrift for its grand opening Friday morning at its location on Calder Avenue. Photo made Wednesday, September 21, 2022 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise

Jennifer and Hannah Moore work on pricing and displaying items inside Catch My Thrift, which is having a grand opening Friday morning at its location on Calder Avenue. Photo made Wednesday, September 21, 2022 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise

Hannah Moore and a volunteer work on setting up the register system at Catch My Thrift, which is having a grand opening Friday morning at its location on Calder Avenue. Photo made Wednesday, September 21, 2022 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise

Catch My Thrift is having a grand opening Friday morning at its location on Calder Avenue. Photo made Wednesday, September 21, 2022 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise

Hannah Moore works on pricing and displaying items inside Catch My Thrift, which is having a grand opening Friday morning at its location on Calder Avenue. Photo made Wednesday, September 21, 2022 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise

Hannah Moore affixes price tags inside Catch My Thrift, which is having a grand opening Friday morning at its location on Calder Avenue. Photo made Wednesday, September 21, 2022 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise

Catch My Thrift is having a grand opening Friday morning at its location on Calder Avenue. Photo made Wednesday, September 21, 2022 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise

Dani Miller-Holmes helps prepare items for display inside Catch My Thrift, which is having a grand opening Friday morning at its location on Calder Avenue. Photo made Wednesday, September 21, 2022 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise

Beaumont is getting a new thrift shop, and it’s a perfect fit for new-to-you enthusiasts who also want to see their dollars make a difference.

Catch My Thrift, located at 2406 Calder Avenue in what was once another resale shop – Grandma’s Basement, is a new venture for Harvest House, a non-profit organization whose goal is to end child sex trafficking in Southeast Texas.

Founded in 2010, Harvest House became an official nonprofit nine years ago, providing care for local survivors with advocates on call 24-hours a day, seven days a week. They also educate the community on trafficking and prevention and provide training on detection and response with Beaumont Police, local hospitals and schools at age-appropriate levels.

Currently, they have 34 clients, which average about 15 years old.

But they’ve had clients as young as 10, said Hannah Moore, Harvest House’s development director.

Though their mission focuses on children under 18, clients can continue to receive care through the age of 21.

Related: Harvest House block party fundraiser

“We get a lot of donations for our clients, and often they’re items we can’t use. We only give our clients new things, because often they’ve only ever gotten hand-me-downs, and we want them to have something that’s brand new,” Moore said.

Five months ago, they came upon the idea of selling those items instead of donating them elsewhere.

“We could make some money and put that back into the program, so we decided to open a thrift store,” she said. “And now we can accept any donations, because we can sell it here.”

Instead of re-donating what they could not use, they began stocking away all donated items that came through Harvest House’s doors.

“We had boxes and boxes (of donations), so we had a pretty good inventory of clothes at least” before even finding the site to house their new business, Moore said.

They also receive slightly damaged or otherwise unsellable items as donations from Versona, a boutique women’s store located in Parkdale Mall, and have partnered with Ability Central to sell some of their team creations at the new shop.

One day, Moore and Harvest House founder Lisa Boler were driving down Calder Avenue location and noticed an empty storefront with a sign advertising its availability along the 2400 block.

They reached out to property owner Charles Daleo, owner of Daleo Compounding Pharmacy next door.

“This location was perfect, because it was centrally located to our Harvest House facility,” Moore said.

And Daleo went above and beyond to accommodate their move into the location.

“He let us in early to set up before our rent started,” Moore said. “He’s just a great guy.”

But he wasn’t the only business owner to jump on the welcome wagon as the non-profit dove into its first sales-driven venture.

Related: Harvest House seeks help to expand programming

“Businesses all along this block have reached out and offered help,” said Jennifer Cha Rach, volunteer coordinator.

Other thrift and second-hand shops also “have been so supportive.”

Instead of seeing Catch My Thrift as competition for their business or non-profit beneficiaries, they’ve reached out to offer help and support.

“It’s such a tight-knit community here, so that’s really good,” Cha Rach said. “We’re all working towards a better Beaumont.”

Set up of the shop got underway in July.

Moore, along with Cha Rach and other volunteers, repaired, painted, wall-papered and set up displays filled with sale items in the months that followed.

They put out posts on social media and the Harvest House website to elicit further donations and set up an Instagram page for all things related to Catch My Thrift.

The community has responded with a slew of donations that arrive steadily to the new shop’s back door.

“People have been really respectful, too, and haven’t unloaded a bunch of junky stuff,” Moore said.

But for those items that either for reasons of wear or datedness don’t fit the shop’s sales vision, “We’re in communication with a lot of other non-profits, so even if we can’t sell it, it won’t get thrown in the Dumpster. We’ll get it to a different thrift shop. It’s all part of the growing recycling movement,” Cha Rach said.

Though the shop’s shelves and displays have covered the gamut of thrift store offerings, they’re hoping for additional donations of furniture items, like bookshelves and tables.

“We wouldn’t say no to some display items, too,” Cha Rach said.

They’d also like to find a local muralist to decorate some of the open walls throughout the store, as well, though that’s a luxury they haven’t yet been able to afford.

In the past month -- the final push before Friday’s grand opening -- Moore and Cha Rach have worked every day, all day -- tagging, pricing, hanging, displaying – while still managing their respective duties with Harvest House.

“It’s nice being in an office and get your work done, but this has been so fun,” Moore said. “Plus, I’m obsessed with thrifting. So, this has been a blast for me.”

The pair will soon be turning over the shop reins to volunteers, who will staff the shop after its opening.

“We want this to be all volunteer-led so we don’t have to pay employees,” Moore said, and they've gotten nearly a dozen applications.

“They’re all from people who’ve never volunteered with Harvest House before, so they’re ‘new to the pool,’ which is exciting,” Cha Rach said.

The all-volunteer staff will allow profits, beyond covering operational costs like rent and utilities, to benefit Harvest House’s programs and new initiatives.

Related: It takes a village to combat human trafficking

Those include a short-term housing facility, which has already been completed, with inspections and permits granted.

“We just need to finish the walls, cabinets, etc.,” Moore said. “It’s coming along great, and part of our long-term strategic plan – like the 10 to 15 year plan – is to have a long-term residential facility,”

The profits garnered from Catch My Thrift, alongside other fundraising initiatives - like their annual appearance at the Junior League of Beaumont’s Main Street Market and an upcoming 5K event at Woodcrest United Methodist Church - will go a long way toward moving the needle closer to the non-profit’s future dreams of the maintenance and creation of those tiered residential facilities.

That needle starts moving 10 a.m. Friday when the doors open for Catch My Thrift’s first day of business.

The Beaumont Chamber of Commerce and Mayor Robin Mouton will join in for a ribbon cutting at 10:30 a.m., and the first customers can enjoy a coffee bar station provided by OZ Café, 100 cookies donated by Crumbl Cookies in Beaumont and a charcuterie board donated by James Carpenter of Farmer’s Insurance.

Catch My Thrift will be open Thursdays and Fridays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and donations are accepted 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Wednesday.

Patrons can also donate directly to the organization by scanning a QR code at the register or by visiting their website at harvesthousebmt.com.

Kim Brent is a photojournalist with The Beaumont Enterprise.

She came to Beaumont in September 2014 amid a search for full-time positions after her previous paper in Michigan reduced many staff members, Kim included, to part time.

"I managed to eke out a living by getting a second job in my off time working at the deli counter of a local grocery store," she said. "And let me just say, slicing meat for hours on end is no fun for a vegetarian."

When she's not out covering our community, she loves to paint, knit, read, write and love and be loved by my two kitties, Memphis and Skeets.

"And yes, I also like to take pictures for the pure joy and creativity of it."