Grace’s Haven Ministries, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help citizens in the area with their mental health, have opened a thrift store in the heart of Andalusia.
Owners Angie and Clint Bishop moved to the Andalusia area from North Alabama in 2024. “My husband is a pastor at Fairmount Baptist Church in Red Level,” Angie Bishop said. “He’s also a mental health counselor. We were trying to look at different things in the area for him to help his clients afford their medication. We were trying to figure out a way we could help and something we could do, so we founded the organization Grace’s Haven Ministries in July of last year.”
They decided in December to create a thrift store which would help keep revenue coming in for the organization. “We needed a way that we could have funds generated to be able to supply people with access to mental health care,” Bishop continued. “My husband and I have 40 years of combined experience in retail management, so we had the idea to do a thrift store.”
When the Bishops started seeking donations, they were pleasantly surprised as people began canceling their estate and yard sales and opting to donate it to the thrift store. The pair received calls from local supporters asking the couple to come pick up the items they’d once planned to sell. “That was how we got all of our donations when we first got started, was going out and picking them up ourselves,” Bishop said.
Grace’s Haven Ministries Thrift Store opened on January 26, with a intimate, quiet opening. They also recently held a ribbon cutting with the Andalusia Area Chamber of Commerce and a Customer Appreciation Day on Monday, April 6.