OUR Place opened in June 2021 in partnership with the Washoe County Human Services Agency. Based in Sparks, OUR Place offers emergency housing for women and their families, alongside various other services to help support them. At any given time, they have around 280 individuals living on campus.
In the early stages of its opening, OUR Place began testing the waters with a clothing boutique, in order to offer their residents access to new clothing and accessories. “It’s really the single women that a lot of times come to us with nothing, especially if they are fleeing a domestic violence situation. Literally, we will have women come in and they only have the clothes on their back,” Kim Schweickert, the Human Services Coordinator for Washoe County, explains.
“We started out with a donation bin outside of our welcome center. People would leave donations, and our guests would come and pick through. But we really didn’t feel like this was the kindest way to show people that we care and believe in them.”
As a response, the Our Place to Shine Boutique was born. What once began as a few rails of donation garments in an old storage room is now a bright, stylish, and welcoming boutique, well-stocked with shoes, dresses, accessories, and outfits for every appropriate occasion.
At the tail end of 2022, the boutique underwent a remodel and now boasts a large dressing room area, decorations and displays, and an even wider range of items for residents to choose from.
“There are women that come in and tell us they feel like they’re a queen for the day,” Norma Chappel who leads at Shine boutique says. “I love seeing how the ladies have changed by the time they leave, they’re more confident and excited, especially when they get to bring home some makeup or new jewelry.”
“Our philosophy at OUR Place is based around a person-first model,” Schweickert said. “A lot of homeless shelters are housing-first models, but we are person-first meaning that we focus on the individual, we create case-plan goals around the person, and housing is really the last thing we connect them with. We want to make sure that by the time they are ready for housing, they’re set up to be successful, versus putting them in housing and figuring everything else out afterward”
As the boutique was being restructured and organized, Karolyn Messina – a live-in staff member at OUR Place and assistant at Our Place to Shine – came up with the idea of expanding their children’s corner in the main boutique, and creating a separate area dedicated to the younger residents of OUR Place. “I felt like the kids here deserved their own area, something just for them,” Messina explains.
After garnering support from the local Katie Grace Foundation, construction was underway, and two months later, the Katie Bug’s Boutique opened for shopping. The name originates from the nickname that Katie Weingartner’s aunt used to call her as a child – bug.
“The Katie Grace Foundation is involved with a lot of projects in the community,” Schweickert said. “They wanted to learn more about OUR Place and what they could do for us.”
Schweickert showed them the storage room they had in mind for the space, cluttered with excess clothing for the other boutique ready to be restocked and in the space of two months, they transformed the room in preparation for its opening – painting the walls in fun, bright colors, adding murals, and bringing in the clothing racks they managed to snag from Bed, Bath & Beyond after they closed down.
Every clothing item and toy in the children’s boutique is brand new, with donations being coordinated by the Katie Grace Foundation, working alongside chain stores to bring in new, seasonal items for the families to choose from.
“A lot of our families are used to having to go to thrift stores and get second-hand items, and pass them again down to their children,” Schweickert said. “Everything in this boutique is brand new. It doesn’t feel like a handout or charity – this is their boutique.” The once cluttered storage room feels like a real store one would find in a mall, except here – there are no price tags.
The boutique is staffed fully by volunteers. The families living at OUR Place can schedule a time to drop in and shop for free. Usually, they get to choose three outfits, some shoes, underwear, toys, socks, and a backpack. However, shopping sprees can be expanded as fit to fulfill the child’s needs. “OUR Place has served roughly 450 kids in 2 years, so we certainly have a population here that can use this boutique,” Schweickert said. “Every kid that comes in here feels so special. For the parents to not have to worry about spending money and just letting their kids pick out whatever they want, that’s been really fun to watch.”
This new space offers the kids of OUR Place something exciting and positive to grasp onto while they are going through some tough life changes.
Additional to the racks of coats, shoes, board games, and backpacks is a play area in the corner of the boutique for uninterested kids to occupy themselves with toys or the play kitchen while their parents shop.
There is also a dedicated gift-wrapping station, equipped with tape and rolls of colorful, printed paper. “If it’s a kid’s birthday, their parent can come in here, pick something out and wrap the present, eliminating any feelings of ‘oh, well I’m in a homeless shelter, I can’t get my kid a gift for their birthday,’ type thing,” Schweickert said.
“If we know one of the children’s birthdays is coming up and they really like Barbies, for example, we let the Katie Grace Foundation know and they will bring the Barbie to the boutique, ready for the parents to wrap and gift. They’ve literally thought of everything.”
The Katie Bug’s Boutique helps provide necessary clothing items and shoes for the children staying at OUR Place, as well as sparking joy and helping create a sense of normalcy in their lives.