Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to JoBeth Hopp. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

JoBeth, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers

I would say that interactions with our clients are one of the most impactful parts of our business. It is easy to get caught up in providing assistance in a material way, that I have sometimes forgotten to take a minute and view the person before me as a whole. One person, that I will call Amy, would come to us to receive clothing several times a year. I was familiar with her. She was usually demanding and not always pleasant. One morning at her appointment, I had braced myself for our interactions. I made the comment to her that she had lost a significant amount of weight since I had last seen her and asked if everything was ok. Amy, with tears in her eyes, told me that she had been very sick and had been hospitalized and that was why she had lost so much weight. She said that she usually does not feel SEEN in her life and the fact that I had noticed a change and asked about her shook her world. This woman, who had usually been rude and surly, cried and hugged me just for noticing. It take so little effort on our part to see and interact with people around us, but is really the most impactful thing that anyone can do.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I moved to the Dayton Ohio area in 2006 with my family. In 2008, I was part of a team from a local church that began a large, free clothing give-away on a yearly basis. By 2011, Threads of Miami Valley was born out of that initial concept of offering quality clothing for FREE to the community. We accept donations from individuals and consignment stores to provide seasonally appropriate and contemporary clothing for children and adults. I am very proud to have helped develop a strong volunteer base and a steady donation stream. Those are two things that we could not function without. Because of our systems, Threads can serve up to 120 families a week.
I think that what sets us apart from many free clothing outlets is the way we handle our clients. Many of our visitors are coming from a chaotic situation and are dealing with addiction, homelessness or job loss. We try and minimize distractions by offering appointments and making it a relaxing shopping atmosphere.
As a non profit, we partner with several organizations to help meet clothing needs. With grants and funds provided to us, we buy necessities like socks and underwear. On the reverse side, we also send clothing items to other organizations as well. We support several interview closets and even a place that offers free formals to high school students. I believe very strongly in collaborative community efforts.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Our system of giving away clothing had once involved sessions of 15-20 people and required volunteers to lug heavy tubs to clients. It was physically demanding and invited chaos with the large groups. It also did not allow for time to interact well with our clients. I made the decision to transition to a “store” set up, with sessions of 5 people, in a nicer and more calm atmosphere. This was a huge improvement for our volunteers and for our clients and we can now actually serve more people. This new design was implemented the month before Covid restrictions were put into place. Instead of having to revamp in the middle of a pandemic, we were already ideally situated to continue operations.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Word of mouth is our most effective strategy for growing clientele. Obviously, the need is overwhelming so our services are valuable. Once people could trust that we had quality merchandise in consistent quantities, we have not had to work to grow our base. Our appointments are often booked out for 6-8 weeks.

Contact Info:

• Website: threadsoutreach.org
• Facebook: Threads of Miami Valley
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/jobeth-hopp-19ab29182

Image Credits
N/A