St. Vincent de Paul Louisville
April 2017
Thrift Store Offers Mentally Challenged Teens Job Skills Training With a keen eye for merchandising and a competitive drive to improve retail sales, Elexia Hieneman enjoys her job as the manager of St. Vincent de Paul’s Thrift Store in Clarksville, IN. “I am always looking for ways to get more shoppers into our store, just to let people know we’re here, and also to tell them about all the good work that St. Vincent de Paul does in our community,” Hieneman says. Standing near the furniture display and surveying her store’s racks of clothing and shelves of household items, she noted several customers who have become loyal regulars at the Southern Indiana store.
about providing opportunities for others, just as they were given to her. That’s why the CHOICE Program has been a good fit, she explains. The goal is to give teenagers real, on-the-job training (with their school staff ’s supervision), in the hopes that the students with disabilities will eventually find permanent, paid employment.
Elexia Hieneman, manager of SVDP’s Clarksville Thrift Store, 706 Lewis & Clark Parkway.
Other friendly, familiar faces were the volunteers from Clarksville High School. DeAndre, 19, Christopher, 17, and Angelo, 16, are workers with the Greater Clark County Schools’ CHOICE Program, or Community Helping Our Youth In Career Education. Months ago, Patti Zelli, a job coach with the school system, approached Hieneman about putting some of her students to work volunteering at the Clarksville thrift store. The CHOICE Program serves Clark County students who have disabilities, including learning, emotional, and cognitive disabilities as well as sensory (hearing/vision) disabilities, and autism. “As the parent of two kids with disabilities, I wanted to say yes right away,” Hieneman says, adding that she welcomed the extra hands as well as the opportunity to empower others in developing life skills that will benefit them in the future.
DeAndre collects loose hangers.
Formerly homeless at one point in her life, Hieneman worked her way back to stability with the help of others, including St. Vincent de Paul. As a result, she says, she feels strongly
Each Monday morning, Zelli accompanies the students to the Clarskville store, where the teens perform such tasks as collecting hangers and tidying shelves. “Sweeping is DeAndre’s very favorite thing,” says, Zelli. Angelo and Christopher don’t talk much, but it is clear from their attentiveness to detail that they enjoy their work. “They take their jobs very seriously,” Zelli says, before addressing the teens directly. “Don’t you?” The teens momentarily look up, smiling and nodding in agreement. Then they dive right back into their work, carefully dusting and sweeping as before.
Angelo (left) loves working in the Thrift Store.