Addy's Attic is doing its part to help the homeless in Mansfield
Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of articles profiling people in Richland County and surrounding areas.
Mansfield has a store that exists solely for its homeless population. Addy’s Attic relocated to 280 Marion Ave. in Mansfield on Sept. 5; the store was previously located on Park Avenue West.
Meet your neighbor and local business owner Peggy Powers.
“Twenty-three years ago, I opened Allure Studios Hair Salon and Day Spa here in Mansfield,” said Powers. “We’re a Paul Mitchell-focused salon, which means that the Paul Mitchell culture is all about giving back, always; John Paul, the owner, is always, ‘give back, give back.’”
Neighbors helping neighbors
“We help anybody that comes in,” said Powers. “We help whoever needs help. Primarily the homeless. We sell the clothes; we use that money to help them buy bus tickets, airline tickets. I’ve been doing it for so long, people have my number.”
“The police will call and say, ‘Hey, we've got a lady. We don’t know what to do with her; she needs to get a bus ticket to Cleveland.’ I just go online and buy her a bus ticket."
Her granddaughter in Florida loved the thrift shop’s name.
“Addy is my granddaughter,” Powers said. “I thought that was cute. Addy’s Attic was just catchy. And she is now 13, so she was only 4 at the time. She would say, ‘I have a store with my name!’ If you look back at some of my old advertising, probably even on my Facebook page, there’s a picture of Addy when she was little.”
Truth Ministries and Powers carry on the tradition of her late father, Roger Ewers, founding pastor of Truth Baptist Church. Helping the less fortunate has always been a guide.
“God just put that on my heart,” said Powers.
Merging her passions
“I couldn’t imagine how I could just open a thrift store without having a salon attached to it because that’s what I do and that’s what I know, a salon. So I thought, well, if we have a salon, then we can just have a thrift store in the salon,” said Powers.
Her clients have answered the call.
“Addy’s Attic was the way to go; it was a way to have my clients from Allure Studios donate things and then sell those items to help the homeless.”
“Homeless people are right here in Mansfield,” said Powers. “A lot of people want to help the homeless, but they don’t know how. You have to get close enough to them to buy bus tickets to know that they need them; to buy airline tickets.
“We help anybody that comes in. We help whoever needs help. Primarily the homeless.”
Correspondent Joe Di Lullo can be reached at jp.dilullo0926@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Meet Your Neighbor: Sales at Peggy Powers' shop benefit the homeless
