New Thrift Store Employs At-Risk Youth To Teach Them Business Skills
DENVER (CBS4) - A new kind of thrift store is now open in Denver and the shop is taking young people off the street and putting them in charge.
"You'd be surprised at the population of the youth that are coming here who are homeless," Breanna Batts said.
Just two years ago Batts was one of the young people being helped by Denver's nonprofit Urban Peak.
"Almost ... like another family," Batts said.
Now at 21 she's attending college for physical therapy and working part time at Peak Thrift, Urban Peak's new store.
"I'm going to be working here part time and going to school part time," she said.
"This is a great way for them to step towards self-sufficiency," Kim Easton with Urban Peak said.
Peak Thrift is run partly by the young people Urban Peak helps.
"This is a great opportunity for them to learn the retail business," Easton said.
Easton says staff at the store will work with young people in their employment program, teaching them the ins and outs of the industry.
"These are young people who are either at risk of being homeless or currently experiencing homelessness," Easton said.
The retail is all donation based with all profit going back into Denver's at-risk youth.
"One-hundred percent of the money that we make here goes directly to Urban Peak," Batts said.
Peak Thrift is located right off Interstate 70 at Pecos Street.