By HEAL Staff Writer Jessica Francis Martinez
For a little over a year, the smiling face of Marisa Montoya has greeted customers as they enter Sweet Charity Resale Boutique in Ruidoso Downs, an upscale shop that operates under the umbrella of Help End Abuse for Life (HEAL).
“The purpose of Sweet Charity,” Montoya says, “is to help those who come to The Nest, Lincoln’s county first and only domestic violence shelter. Not only do our proceeds benefit the shelter, but often the women and children who stay there have had to leave many or all of their belongings behind and Sweet Charity allows them to receive quality clothes, coats and shoes for themselves and their children.”
Survivors of domestic violence are able to shop at the store, even after-hours for safety reasons, to secure the most basic items that most people take for granted.
Additionally, according to Montoya, when women prepare to leave the shelter to live on their own, Sweet Charity is able to help them with a “starter kit”, which includes household items such as dishes, kitchen supplies and towels.
June Shaughnessy has been a new face at Sweet Charity over the last couple of months, but she has been a long-time member of the HEAL family, recently retiring from her work as an advocate at The Nest. “My vision for the boutique,” Shaughnessy expressed, “is to make it a pleasant experience for our customers – a friendly staff, warm/welcoming atmosphere, cleanliness, organization of goods and fair pricing.”
If you have ever shopped at or donated to Sweet Charity, you might have noticed the store is different than second hand stores. They pride themselves on not being a “thrift store” but rather more like a retail boutique with higher quality, gently-used items as well as new clothing donated by midtown boutiques. Shaughnessy adds, “We are blessed with an outstanding and generous community here and we reciprocate by displaying donated items to their best advantage.”
Montoya feels the same connection to the community. “What I enjoy most about working for Sweet Charity is being a part of this team and meeting and interacting with all the great customers and volunteers,” she said. “Volunteers help in so many ways: organizing books or toys, sorting clothes and helping dust and vacuum. They save us time so we can get new donations out for purchase in a timely way and maintain both the front and back of the store. I appreciate our volunteers so much!”
One of these generous individuals, Maggie Guerrero, began volunteering at Sweet Charity a couple years ago when she stopped by and “fell in love” with the store. She noticed how hard the cashier was working with an overflow of donations and offered to help. Guerrero, a mother of four and grandmother of six, moved to Lincoln County from Odessa, Texas in 1993. She stays busy with her cleaning business, Sunshine Cleaning, but volunteers because of the great enjoyment it brings her knowing she is making a difference. She explained, “Volunteering allows you to learn about yourself, make new friends and do God’s work for others. For me, it’s just about coming together as a community to help others in their time of need.”
Montoya said, “The help of volunteers goes further than they would imagine. Someone considering volunteering at Sweet Charity should know it is for a great cause. The more we can get done in a day, the closer we are to helping another woman and her children.”
Anyone interested in volunteering at Sweet Charity should contact the shop at (575) 378-0041 or Sue at The Nest at (575) 378-6378. The Sweet Charity store is open, and gratefully accepts your gently-used donations, Monday through Saturday, 10 AM to 5 PM. Donations are tax-deductible.