Almost 200 women in pink raincoats met at the Rescue Mission Wednesday morning, preparing to walk downtown to hand out invitations to the mission’s “Preview Party for 2nd Helpings” (scheduled for July 2, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm).
A new retail venture of the Rescue Mission, 2nd Helpings, (located at 1502 Williamson Road, 2 blocks north of the Civic Center), has been created to generate funding to help pay the increased operating expenses of the mission’s clinic.
The facility will include the 2nd Helpings Shop, which the mission describes as geared towards, “the frugally minded with discriminating taste.”
The 2nd Helpings Gallery will offer eclectic works of art from more than 100 regional artists including photography, pottery, woodworking, drawings, sculpture, glass, jewelry and textiles.
The shop will also include a café featuring Roanoke favorites such as ice cream treats from Homestead Dairy, coffee and tea from H&C Coffee, bagels from the Roanoke Bagel Company, meats and cheeses from Boar’s Head and specialty desserts.
2nd Helpings Café opens to the public at 6:30 am Monday, July 6, followed by the shop and gallery opening at 10:00 am. Regular hours are 6:30 am-2:00 pm, Monday – Friday for the café, and 10:00 am-6:00 pm Monday – Saturday for the shop and gallery, with extended hours the first Thursday of each month to coincide with Art by Night.
The Rescue Mission plans to renovate an existing 7,000-square-foot building located on the Mission’s campus into a fully functional clinic. Renovation, scheduled to begin this month, will provide greater access to medical, psychiatric, and dental services for homeless patients.
The mission’s goal is to raise $1 million to pay for renovations of the new expanded clinic and the space for 2nd Helpings. As of late June, $479,500 has been raised.
The original medical clinic opened in July 2002. The 2,000-square-foot facility provides medical, dental and psychiatric needs to the uninsured, unemployed and homeless. More than 11,000 patients were treated in the facility in 2008, an increase of 62% over the previous year.
