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In 1987, Rev.
Barb Peckich and Rev.
George Hartwell noticed
a few homeless men digging through a pile of discarded clothing
in the corner of Heartside Ministries’ chapel.
People
often donated clothes to the church, and all too often they
would end up in a pile—unorganized, unsorted and unavailable
to those who needed them. Barb and George saw no
dignity in
that, and began thinking of a better way to serve the needs
of their neighborhood.
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Kay
Bond, Jeannette Hayes and Eddie
Prong were recruited as volunteers
to start a clothing bank in the basement of Heartside Ministries.
By 1988, a program was established.
By 1989, with help from
Con Moelling, a volunteer and local real estate developer,
they opened a storefront at 25 S. Division. The new program
was named In The Image, following Jesus’ teachings
in Matthew 25, that all men and women are created in the
image of Christ and worthy of being treated with dignity
in all areas of life.
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At
the new location, In The Image began to grow. Donated clothing
and housewares were displayed in a store atmosphere for clients
to shop, free of charge. At that time, In The Image served
about 200 people each month.
In 1990,
a used city van was donated and In The Image also began to
deliver donated furniture. |
In 1991,
under Con Moelling’s leadership, In
The Image relocated to a larger facility at 111 S.
Division. The new location attracted more donations
and more shoppers.
In The
Image began to outgrow its sponsorship through Heartside Ministries,
and started on the journey to become an independent non-profit
agency.
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On January
1, 1994, with three paid employees and one truck,
In The Image was on its own. Through the contributions of
staff and volunteers, furniture was delivered to 425
families and more than 16,000 shoppers were
served.
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| Throughout
the 1990s, In The Image continued to grow in
scope and size. In
its first five years, furniture deliveries and shoppers increased
nearly 300 percent. In 1999, Paul
Haagsman joined the organization as Associate Director,
in charge of fundraising and operations support. |
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