Thrift Boutique Welcomes Public To Shop In Support Of Youth

LEESBURG, VA — Mobile Hope, a nonprofit group that helps homeless youth and "precariously housed" young people in Loudoun County, has opened a boutique in Leesburg where the public will be able to shop.

The boutique, Threads of Hope, is run by volunteers and young people and is open to the public Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It's located at Mobile Hope's offices at 741 Miller Drive, Suite F in Leesburg.

Prior to opening the boutique, youth "clients" of Mobile Hope would pick up clothes at the location. The new boutique marks the first time Mobile Hope has opened its doors for the community to shop. Mobile Hope's clients are young people who receive benefits and services after registering with the group.

The Threads of Hope boutique offers a variety of used and new clothing, shoes and accessories for infants, children, teens and adults, household items and books. For the public, the boutique operates through a donation model, with most items having a suggested donation of $5 or less.

"Instead of our 'kids' getting clothes out of a trash bag of donated items, we wanted to create a nice shopping experience for them, so we opened Threads of Hope," Donna Fortier, CEO of Mobile Hope, said in a statement. "We recently decided to open it to our community so the proceeds can support our kids in need."

Registered Mobile Hope clients can still shop for free at Threads of Hope. For youth clients with transportation barriers, clothing and other basic needs will continue to be distributed through Mobile Hope's bus at its eight bus stop locations.

The organization focuses on at-risk, homeless and precariously housed children and young adults, under the age of 24. Precariously housed is defined by a "lack a regular, fixed and adequate nighttime residence."

Inova Loudoun Hospital started Mobile Hope in 2011 to support the needs of homeless children in the county. The group is now an independent nonprofit organization, with most of its funding coming from individual donations.