Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Johns.
Hi Jessica, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was on the missions and outreach team at my church 12 years ago. At the time, we had adopted NECM as a community partner to volunteer time. NECM not only has a food pantry operated during the day but also runs a program called “Supper House” a couple of evenings a week. Our church was sponsoring Supper House the week of Christmas and had asked the NECM director what other things we could possibly do for the clients for Christmas. The director suggested that gift bags of hygiene-related items would likely be a perfect gift. Seeing the need for such simple items got me to researching whether there were programs that existed where items like these were donated/distributed.
I not only didn’t find other organizations doing this broadly but instead had people say that they too had clients desperate for these items. I then approached my church about letting me put in a hygiene pantry. It started fall of 2011 and quickly grew in terms of people requesting products. Soon the requests started to outpace the donations we were receiving.
We began the search of finding scalable hygiene supplies. After 6 long years of searching and researching, we came across a national procurement organization who had access to both hygiene-related supplies as well as school related supplies. Because of my background teaching elementary school in impoverished communities, I knew there was a great need for school-related resources as well.
The StoreHouse opened September 2016 with our first shipment of supplies. Little did we know, the shipment would also contain pillows, blankets, shoes, and so much more. We went back to the drawing board and determined the best way for us to make an impact on the impoverished communities in West Michigan was to provide tangible resources to organizations and schools doing the work to create sustainability. We believe that people who have stable homes have employable skills and appropriate education can live sustainably. With that in mind, we provide memberships to nonprofits working in those areas to come and select no-cost/low-cost items to be able to use to run their programs and to provide directly to their clients. In addition, we procure brand new school-related supplies from businesses all over the country and redistribute them (totally free of charge) to low-income schools throughout the state of Michigan.
As our membership numbers continued to grow in 2019, we began looking for other avenues to source products. We started to move away from our first procurement organization and started working with Good360 and the Kids In Need Foundation. Good360 and the Kids In Need Foundation act like brokers with businesses across the US to take in excess goods and connect them to organizations making an impact. We not only receive goods from these two companies, but also work with local businesses to leverage their excess merchandise which helps them to make an impact locally.
Our vision is to be THE SOURCE for local businesses to donate material goods to in order to collectively and sustainably impact poverty in West Michigan. We do that by providing millions of dollars in brand new durable goods to both nonprofits and to low-income schools working to impact poverty through education, workforce development, and sustainable housing solutions. We aspire to become The Source for local businesses to donate material goods in order to collectively and sustainably impact poverty in West Michigan
We currently provide regular resources (millions of dollars annually) to over 160 local nonprofits and over 100 schools in Michigan.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
During the first 2 years, we had no staff, no specific vision other than wanting to impact poverty, and no clear direction. What we had was free space and hundreds of thousands of dollars in brand-new supplies. We went back to the drawing board over and over to wrestle through our direction. Ultimately our biggest challenge is that we kept looking at the products and thinking THEY were the focus. The products are merely the vehicle we use to meet our mission which is to reduce poverty.
We have had some staffing challenges, shortages of volunteers, too many products, not the right products, not enough space, you name it. My husband often likes to say that a nonprofit is merely a “tax status.” Meaning it is still a business with all of the typical business challenges specific to a startup and now specific to many other businesses. Ultimately, we rely on our faith and belief that this is what we were called to do, and God continues to provide to meet all of our needs.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We are a nonprofit warehouse redistribution center. We bring in millions of dollars in brand new (non-food) supplies from all over the United States and redistribute it locally to nonprofits and to schools. We are like a Costco or an Amazon for nonprofits and schools. Our goods cost less than 10% of the retail value and often closer to 5%.
Many other thrift stores exit, but those are used goods, and often the funds generated go back to their mission. Any funds we receive go straight back into sourcing more supplies to benefit more people in our community.
My background is in elementary education. I taught in several schools before landing in Michigan for my husband’s job. I taught one year in Rockford before staying home to raise my own family. I am now the co-founder and Executive Director at The StoreHouse.
I am also a current mentee in the Jandernoa Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program working with a former CEO who is helping me to restructure our board and do strategic planning. I am excited about our direction.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I grew up a tomboy. I am one of 7 children. There were 6 boys and myself. Initially, there were 5 of us, and I was directly in the middle. When I turned 16, my parents adopted two of my cousins. Growing up surrounded by boys, I learned to love the same things they did. We played lots of backyard football and basketball. I ran track in high school and played basketball.
Out of 7 kids, I was the only one with a type A personality. I am a fairy extreme extravert which served me well growing up. We moved many times growing up, which meant that I attended several different schools and met lots of new people. Sometimes that was difficult, but ultimately, I feel that it has helped to shape me into the person I am today. I did not grow up with many material possessions which also drives my passion to help others. I have a determined confident personality. Once I am passionate about something and set my mind to do something, it is very difficult to pull me away from it.
I love to travel and spend time with family. I like to hike and spend time on the water. I still love sports. I love playing them and watching them. I especially love watching my three boys plays sports.
Pricing:
- No fee for membership
- No cost for qualifying schools to receive supplies
- Flat rate pricing $10/tote of goods
- About 5% or less of retail cost for larger items like furniture etc.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.storehousemi.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Storehousemi
