When Jamie Ivers told people he got a job at The Arc of Southwest Washington, they assumed he worked at a thrift store. No, he’d say, and explain how he works with adults who have developmental and intellectual disabilities.
The Arc is linked to its collections of used goods, but that is a means to the cause. Selling used goods to Savers, the parent company of Value Village, makes up somewhere between two-thirds and three-fourths of The Arc’s budget used to help people with autism, Down syndrome and other disabilities. That revenue stream was disrupted in November when Value Village in Vancouver closed.
The Arc’s Executive Director David Wunderlin negotiated with Savers to extend its contract through the end of February. So, The Arc still collects items at its facility off 18th Street and at collection bins around the area that are trucked to wherever they need to go; the closest Value Village is in Tigard, Ore.
New relationship
However, for the last couple of months Wunderlin has been building a relationship with a “third party who’s really good at running thrift stores” and wants to help Arcs across Washington. The plan is to open a new thrift store that would replace the Savers model of generating revenue. Rather than selling clothing for 41 cents a pound and miscellaneous goods for 14.3 cents per pound to Savers, that stuff could be sold at full retail price in this new thrift store. The specifics of the relationship haven’t been formalized yet, but Wunderlin imagines The Arc of Southwest Washington would have some equity in the store.
Wunderlin said he couldn’t reveal the name of the third party, a large nonprofit, or the address of the commercial property he wants to lease because he’s in the midst of negotiations. In order to secure the 24,000-square-foot space and get it all set up to be a thrift store, he said The Arc has to raise $250,000 in 90 days.
Board President John Weber pointed toward the success of The Arcs in Colorado, which operate more than two dozen thrift stores statewide.
“There’s a model for proven success in this kind of venture,” Weber said.
Before moving to the Pacific Northwest, Ivers lived in Colorado for 20 years and he’s visited those Arc thrift stores.
“It’s that thrift store that lets us make that connection with a man who’s nonverbal but loves Frank Sinatra,” he said.
Much of what Ivers does as a resource guide at The Arc is get clients out into the community, doing normal day-to-day activities and interacting with other people. For some that might mean watching “Wonder Woman” at the movie theater, or for others that might mean going to a park, library or community center, or even tagging along with people panning for gold at Lucia Falls.
“You do things to make them smile,” said Ivers. He paints his fingernails a different color every week to the delight of his clients.
In essence, The Arc is trying to do for itself what it does for its clients: weave itself back into the community and become successful.
The Arc of Southwest Washington has grown in the last year since Wunderlin took over as executive director. The nonprofit added about a dozen employees, including Ivers, and provides direct services to about 200 people. Those services include guardianship consulting, payee services, a supportive living program, and The Arc recently got a contract to start providing respite care.
The Arc of Southwest Washington is the regional arm of The Arc of the United States. There are more than 700 Arcs across the country. Each operates differently, depending on available resources and community needs.
“There are some incredibly successful ones out there. And I’d like to think that there’s no reason that we can’t do the same thing in our little community here,” Wunderlin said. “There’s nothing that holds us back except ourselves.”
Years ago, The Arc went through a budget meltdown, lost some public contracts and laid off more than half its staff. After what used to be The Arc of Clark County absorbed three similarly struggling sister agencies in Cowlitz, Skamania and Wahkiakum counties and renamed itself The Arc of Southwest Washington, things slid toward insolvency. While auditors suggested the nonprofit file for bankruptcy and shut down, the board of directors wanted to make it work. Michael Piper spent three years as executive director getting it afloat financially, and Wunderlin has been continuing that work, rebuilding the organization.
“I feel better than I have for a long time. It’s no secret The Arc has been through some terrible times in recent years,” said Weber, its board president.
The local Arc has been around since 1936. There are a lot of services that it used to provide that aren’t offered anymore, such as programs for children with disabilities and their siblings.
Wunderlin would like to see The Arc serve children again and has some other ambitious ideas for the future.
“But, we have to walk before we can run and we’re at this stage right now where we need to walk,” he said. “We’re working our tails off to be a valuable resource for the families of Southwest Washington.”
