A couple of noble and good-hearted people came together and came up with a humane and dignified way to connect the wealthy people with those who don’t have anything. They formed a charity and they named it “The Street Store.” This store is building-free, rent-free clothing store that gives homeless people clothes for free.
“Our offices are in Green Point – a very hip and trendy area, but where you find a lot of homeless people. We saw how the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ cross one another’s paths on the streets, but never really meet.
The ‘haves’ fear the homeless and get frustrated with their begging – so they begin to ignore them. This dehumanizes the homeless which makes them feel even more comfortable with begging as they begin to see the ‘haves’ as pockets [of money], rather than people. This vicious cycle of dehumanization separates these two worlds,” explained Kayli Vee Levitan, one of the founders.
Their main goal is to make homeless people feel better and no longer be discarded. They realized that they cannot go with the conventional methods of charity and they needed something fresh. The first “Street Store” was launched in January 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa.
The clothes were individually hung up so that the homeless people could quickly and easily see the garments and pick the one they liked. There were also volunteers who helped them with the clothes. It was a total success. They managed to donate 1,000 bags full of clothes that day.
From that day on, this rent-free pop-up shop has been held in many cities around the world. With such low expenses and with the help of volunteers “The Street Store” can be opened in any city across the globe. When there are no more clothes for donating then the “shop” is closed, the cardboard posters are recycled and there are no traces of the “store.”
If you want to open this store in your city it is very easy. First, you need to access “The Street Store” start-up guide and follow the instructions. Then, it is advised that you collaborate with a local organization because you will need volunteers for the event. All the posters you need, you can download it from their website (TheStreetStore.org).
“We just want The Street Store to continue growing around the world. We are continually adding new languages and assisting people globally to make their dream of hosting a Street Store come to life. Since 14 January 2014, more than 500 stores have popped up in 200+ cities – we’d like this number to continue growing… forever.” – Levitan.
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