African Violet Foundation opens boutique in downtown Fairfield

FAIRFIELD - The African Violet Foundation will hold the grand opening of its new boutique in downtown Fairfield from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25.

The boutique will serve light refreshments and beverages that day, but will not be open for business. The event is intended to celebrate the months of hard work that went into preparing the boutique, located one block east at 54 S. B St., in the building formerly occupied by The Lord's Cupboard.

The African Violet Foundation was founded by Staci and Roger Wright in 2006 to serve middle and high school students in southeast Iowa, and now reaches three school districts: Fairfield, Pekin and Van Buren. It provides gifts such as hooded sweatshirts for students at Christmastime, and in recent years has hosted a clothing drive the day after Thanksgiving. The foundation was named in honor of Staci's grandparents, John and Ava Topping. Though the family had little money, Ava was well known for sending African violets to those in need, a way of letting others know she cared for them.

The foundation's board hopes to continue and even expand on its mission of serving the community through its newly opened boutique. Though the building is called a 'boutique,” the foundation actually gives away the items donated to it instead of selling them at a discount. These include clothing for men, women and kids, as well as items for small children such as strollers, books, bottles and toys.

To receive clothing from the boutique, a family must register with the foundation the ages and number of family members, and then the family is allowed a certain number of clothes every three months. Families can get up to five outfits, pajamas, a pair of shoes, and a dress for girls, once every 90 days. Socks and new underwear are given out once every six months.

There are no income guidelines to receive items at the boutique. Wright said not everyone in need falls below a certain income.

'My income won't tell you if someone in my family is battling a terminal illness or my husband got laid off,” Wright said. 'We will serve anyone who says they are in need.”

One part of the store will be dedicating to 'dress for success,” where people can get clothes for a job interview. There also will be a place for bedding and blankets.

The foundation board planned to hold the boutique's grand opening on Jan. 11, but delayed it to Jan. 18 due to weather, and then had to delay it again to Jan. 25. The boutique is now open for business. Since it relies on an all-volunteer staff, its hours are limited at the moment to three half-days a week: Wednesday morning from 9 a.m. to noon; Thursday evening from 4:15-7:15 p.m.; and Saturday morning from 9 a.m. to noon. Wright said she'd like to add afternoon hours, from noon to 4 p.m., at least one day a week, but until she gets more volunteers to commit to staffing the front counter, she won't expand the hours.

'We've decided that we're going to keep these hours through at least January and February,” she said. 'We're just learning - learning how much time it takes to do all the laundry, how many clothes go out and how many come in. We don't want to overwhelm ourselves and have it flop.”

Those who wish to donate to the boutique are asked to come in during business hours. Wright said she considered having a drop off box, but worried it would get out of hand because other drop boxes in town were abused. The foundation does not accept housewares or electronics as donations. Wright asks the public to follow the donation guidelines because the foundation will have to pay to get rid of items dropped off that don't fit its criteria.

Staci said all of the clothes are laundered before they are put on display, courtesy of a washer and dryer donated by Dexter Laundry.

Though the African Violet Foundation has existed since 2006, it has never had a building until this year. Staci collected clothes at the high school for kids who didn't have a change of clothes for physical education. A friend allowed her to store clothing in his semi-trailer.

A few years ago, Wright felt that it was time for the foundation to do more, and get a building of its own. At that time, a free clothing store called The Closet, near the Fairfield Foursquare Church, had just closed. Staci felt that its closure left a gap in the community for people who needed clothing but couldn't afford it.

Another concern was that, even after a decade of involvement in the schools and hosting Caring Through Clothing events on Black Friday, Wright still encountered residents who had never heard of the foundation.

'We felt that having a building would give us a strong presence in the community, like The Lord's Cupboard,” Staci said.

But perhaps above all, Staci felt that God was calling her to open a boutique.

'I felt God was laying it on my heart that we needed to do this for the community,” she said. 'I started thinking about it, and then I started having literal dreams. I wanted to do it, and I wanted to do it differently. I feel strongly that dignity is a basic need, that it's just as important as clothing and shelter. When we started designing the place, I knew it was going to be a boutique.”

Wright dreamed of a boutique where 'fashion is free for those in need.” She wanted a place where people of any income level could look and feel nice.

'I think back to when I was a kid, and back-to-school shopping was a thing. A lot of people look forward to that,” she said. 'I want this to be a place where people come for back-to-school shopping, or for prom. You shouldn't have to stay home from prom because you can't get your hands on a $300 dress.”

Wright knew it would be an uphill battle to purchase a building. Securing a loan would be difficult because the foundation's income is purely donations, and it had no assets 'except our good names,” Wright said. The foundation generates about $30,000 a year, and spends $16,000-$20,000 of that on its Christmas program.

When Wright learned that The Lord's Cupboard would be moving out of its building on B Street, she saw that as the perfect opportunity to get a storefront.

'To tell the board I wanted to buy the building was scary because we didn't have the money,” Wright said. 'But nobody balked. We all agreed to look into it.”

Wright and fellow board member Sarah Cochran met with Sue Buch at Iowa State Bank to request a mortgage. During their presentation, Buch said she wanted to bring bank President Aaron Kness into the room. Wright and Cochran were worried that it must mean their request would be denied. But when Kness walked in the room, he told Wright and Cochran that their project was exactly the sort of thing Iowa State Bank wanted to get behind.

The foundation got a mortgage, and borrowed a further $5,000 for renovations. Many individuals and companies stepped forward to donate materials and labor. MacGyver McCarty built the front counter. Steve Winslow drew up the blueprints for free. Scott Steen and Carl McCoy also gave a big helping hand. Royale Concrete polished all the floors at no cost.

The boutique hosted its first event on Black Friday when it held its annual 'Caring Through Clothing” drive there. And now it is ready to open its doors on a regular basis. For the moment, all of the clothing will be free. Wright said she's hoping to sell T-shirts with the foundation's name on them, and sell the hooded sweatshirts the foundation gives away to students every Christmas.