History of the FreeStore

The Past

The Free Store began as an outreach committee project of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church.  The project offers support to The Children and Families of Iowa Family Violence Center (FVC).  The FVC houses women, often with children, who escape from abusive domestic situations and helps them to start new independent and safe lives.

It quickly became obvious that a major problem for the FVC (Children and Families of Iowa’s Family Violence Center) was that the space at the shelter could not keep up with the demand.  This was because often when the women were ready to move, they had apartments but no household goods.  The idea of the FreeStore was born: provide household goods to these families!

Three men got to work.  They spread the word about their idea.  Soon donated goods started coming in and the men were kept busy picking up the goods and distributing them to women who were moving out of the FVC.  At first they had one rental bay the size of a single garage, then two.  After a while even that space was too small.

The Present

The volunteer staff currently includes several teams (with occasional additional help) who pick up donated goods; six sets of people (greeters) who meet the women at the FreeStore; several men and women  who organize the hard goods and linens, a large number of people on call to drive the truck and help women move their selections, and dozens of other people who work behind the scenes. 

The warehouse idea has grown up. It gained notice and support from other organizations and area churches  and in 2005, it became the FreeStore, an independent 501(c)3 charity. In April 2006 we received a used moving truck from a generous supporter, and in June 2006, we moved to a more spacious, rent-free space donated by the Principal Financial Group.  In Sept. 2007 we received a newer, larger truck.  With two trucks  we are now able to pick up furniture from one venue while volunteers move a client to another address.

The Future

As the project grows, we must continue to establish partnerships with other groups so the FreeStore’s future (financial and volunteer) will be secure.  In 2007, the FreeStore gave household items to over 220 families, including beds for 325 children.   Our vision of the future is that donations and numbers of volunteers will increase so the number of families receiving help can increase —and you can help make that happen.

The FreeStore has three major needs:

● Funds to pay for mattresses, bed frames, chests, kitchen tables, other needed but unavailable items, and for warehouse utilities

● Donated household items

● Volunteers to pick up items, distribute them, and organize them

If you’d like to help, call 515-225-2020 ext 4