Nonprofit finds itself some room to grow

The Baltimore Sun

It has been years since anyone has seen the walls in the back of Partners in Care's thrift store.

Clothes, jewelry and shoes were stacked in boxes because there was no place to display them.

The nonprofit's store, called the Boutique, had the best kind of problem: It no longer had enough room for all of its donations.

This week, the organization, which matches volunteers to elderly residents who need help with home repairs and transportation, will move to a much larger site two miles up Route 2 from its old location in Severna Park.

The 6,500-square-foot space - more than twice the size of its former three storefronts - brings together the service exchange program and the Boutique into one building.

"This allows us to all be under one roof," said Barbara Huston, a co-founder, president and CEO of Partners in Care. "We were ... sitting on top of each other in the office."

At a time when other county nonprofits are reeling from cuts to their grants, Partners in Care is thriving. It saw its $45,000 grant cut to $5,000, then restored during the budget controversy this spring but did not panic because it aggressively pursues private grants and relies on other funding sources.

This month, it received a $25,000 from the Maryland Home and Community Foundation that will allow it to expand its services to the Brooklyn and Curtis Bay area.

The nonprofit has grown far beyond what its three founders imagined when they started their contemporary bartering system with 26 members in 1993.

Members volunteer services for elderly members, such as driving them to the store or performing home repairs, in exchange for credit hours that can be redeemed for services for the member.

Most service exchange programs around the country, Huston said, increase their membership to 200 to 300 before they fold because they become too unwieldy.

"We thought if we got 300 to 400 members and survived for five years we would be tickled," she said.

Today, Partners in Care has 2,200.

The organization moved into its former location, on Ritchie Highway in Severna Park, five years ago with two full-time employees and 800 members.

An increase in Boutique space will mean more revenue for the nonprofit, which earns about $100,000 from sales, or about a third of the organization's annual budget, Huston said.

"We get wonderful donations all the time," she said.

Added Joyce Cavey, the transportation coordinator, "It's going to be fun to be moving to a new space, and do more of what we love to do here."

The move was a community effort, Huston said, that relied on donated materials and services. Converse Construction supplied trash containers and drywall installers. Sherwin Williams donated 25 gallons of paint, and Floors by Design installed floors.

The organization was able to enlist its members to help clean windows, sweep and pack boxes. Last weekend Partners in Care held a painting party in the new building.

The office will reopen in the new location Tuesday, and the boutique will open Wednesday.

sharahn.boykin@baltsun.com

Partners in Care Boutique and office will open this week at 6 S. Ritchie Highway in Pasadena.

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