Holding Hands With Ones Who Need It Most

Holding Hands Resale Shop

A local Oxford thrift shop has a unique and different perspective on hiring their employees, Holding Hands Resale Shop aims to create a safe working environment for those affected by mental illness. 

You can check out more and donate to Holding Hands by visiting their website here. 

At the age of 14, Donna Howard’s daughter was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and was working at a local grocery store as a bag clerk. Her daughter did not gain the respect or patience she deserved and Donna saw a change needed to happen. After visiting a similar thrift shop in Nashville six years ago where the owner had opened a store to provide his own daughter who was diagnosed with autism a job opportunity, Howard was inspired to open her own business in Oxford.

With ten employees working under Howard, the desire for this kind of service is undeserved, almost every week someone comes in looking for a job. Howard explains the hardest part about her business is turning potential employees down due to an over capacity of staff already. 

To learn more about mental illness and those affected by it and become more aware of how difficult it is for those affected to receive respect within a job or career they hold, click here. 

Holding Hands is able to bring help and positivity to many different people throughout the community of Oxford. Not only by offering job opportunities and services to mental illness, but by also creating reasonable priced items throughout the store helping out those who are less fortunate.