\u201cI get more out of it than I give,\u201d Debbie said. \u201cI guarantee you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Welcome to 52 Faces
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52 Faces of Community<\/a> is a Fort Worth Report weekly series spotlighting local unsung heroes. It is sponsored by Central Market<\/a>, H-E-B<\/a> and JPS Health Network<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the end of the year, these rarely recognized heroes will gather for a luncheon where the Report will announce one honoree to represent Tarrant County at the Jefferson Awards in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are so fortunate to have such dedicated volunteers who support The Resale Shop. We literally couldn\u2019t do it without them. Debbie is such a joy to work with. The customers love her, and we do too.\u201d<\/p>\n Nola Davis, nominator<\/p>\n Debbie \u2014 known affectionately by many as \u201cMama Debbie\u201d \u2014 has volunteered at the shop for nearly 20 years, rarely missing a week. Over that time, she\u2019s watched as a small thrift operation expanded into a key piece of the Center for Transforming Lives\u2019 work.<\/p>\n The shop generates about $200,000 annually. With just a handful of staff members, the operation relies heavily on volunteers like Debbie.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are so fortunate to have such dedicated volunteers who support The Resale Shop,\u201d said Nola Davis, the shop\u2019s manager. \u201cWe literally couldn\u2019t do it without them. Debbie is such a joy to work with. The customers love her, and we do too.\u201d<\/p>\n But the work has never been about numbers.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s about people, Debbie said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Inside the store, conversations stretch between clothing racks. Customers share stories among blouses and long-flowing skirts. Volunteers swap updates about their lives as they shuffle through housewares. Some visitors come in just to browse. Others come because they need someone to talk to.<\/p>\n That sense of belonging is something Debbie has helped shape over the years.<\/p>\n She\u2019s seen children grow up and return as adults. She\u2019s watched strangers become regulars, then friends. She\u2019s celebrated weddings, mourned losses and built relationships that extend far beyond the store\u2019s walls.<\/p>\n \u201cWe cry with one another. We celebrate each other\u2019s accomplishments,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re a community.\u201d<\/p>\n On any given day, Debbie can be found straightening displays. She may be chatting with customers or helping new volunteers find their footing. She calls the store her second home, a place that gives her purpose and structure.<\/p>\n \u201cIt gives me a reason to get up in the morning,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Before she ever stepped into the shop, Debbie built a career in construction and ran her own wallpaper and contracting business for more than 30 years \u2014 a path she carved out at a time when few women worked in the field.<\/p>\n She traveled the world as a child in a military family, living in places like Guam and Iran, experiences that shaped how she sees others.<\/p>\n Everybody\u2019s got a story to tell, she said. All she wants to do is listen.\u00a0<\/p>\n Each customer is someone who may need a conversation, a smile or simply a place where they feel welcome, she said. They are not a transaction, she stressed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t take your money just to be kind and take a minute to listen,\u201d Debbie said.<\/p>\n She won\u2019t allow someone to leave sad, she said. That\u2019s part of what has kept her coming back, week after week, year after year.<\/p>\n Even now, she says she has no plans to stop.<\/p>\n \u201cI always have a smile on my face,\u201d Debbie said.<\/p>\n The work may be simple \u2014 greeting people, organizing donations, sharing a conversation \u2014 but Debbie\u2019s impact is anything but, Davis said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the kind of thing that keeps the world going around,\u201d Debbie said.<\/p>\n Save the date:\u00a0<\/p>\n The Resale Shop will host its \u201cClean Out, Help Out\u201d donation and shopping event from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, May 7, at 6500 Camp Bowie Blvd.<\/p>\n Community members can bring gently used clothing, housewares and small furniture items to donate, then stay to shop, enjoy music and entertainment, and purchase food from local vendors.<\/p>\n All proceeds benefit the Center for Transforming Lives, supporting services such as housing assistance, early childhood education, counseling and economic mobility programs for women and children in Tarrant County.<\/p>\n Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org<\/a> or @matthewsgroi1<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n