LUNENBURG COUNTY, Va. — On Main Street in the heart of Victoria, you’ll find a staple thrift store where affordability and community come first.
“I love me some Bliss,” said regular customer Janie Skelton.
At Bliss, adult clothes are $1, and most household items range from $0.35 to $0.95.
“They do a lot for people,” said shopper Wendy Sheppard, who has been coming to Bliss every day for years. “Half of my house came from here.”
“It's like a happy place,” said owner and co-founder Lena Hipps-Clarke. “It's where I want you to come to feel welcome and invited.”
You’ll find tons of unique items inside the 10,000-square-foot store, but what Hipps-Clarke is most proud of is her staff.
“We don't know what we would do without them,” she explained.
For 11 years, this nonprofit has offered rural Virginians with physical or intellectual disabilities a job.
“I love my co-workers,” said 33-year-old Ashley Cox whose warm smile greets shoppers at the front register. “Whatever they need help with, I'll take them right to it."
Cox is one of Hipps-Clarke’s former special education students. The proud store owner opened Bliss in 2012 when Victoria’s STEPS Head Start program closed down.
“None of my students could find employment or a place to go because with waivers," Hipps-Clarke noted. "It can take up to five years to get a waiver to go to a day support."
With joy in its name, it's no surprise this shop’s mission is to give staff like Ashley purpose.
“It gets me out the house,” said Cox, who also explained since she hasn’t been able to master the cash register, she can’t get a job anywhere else in town.
Bliss’s mission is also about sharing happiness with those who are struggling.
“If we have a fire, people whose home’s burn out, we give them the clothes,” said Cox. "Like Diane’s mother-in-law’s house caught on fire, so we helped her get back on her feet.”
“A couple of times I came in here, and I needed a couple of things but didn't have money until the next day, and they said go ahead just come back,” said Sheppard emotionally.
But now, for the first time in more than decade, Hipps-Clarke is the one turning to her community for help.
“We are just in desperate need because we do not want to close the doors,” she said.
The building’s 30-year-old HVAC system recently broke down. The lowest quote to replace it is $24,000.
“The way Bliss was set up was what money we had leftover, we donated to another charity to help them out,” Hipps-Clarke explained. “And that's the way we incorporated it. That was in our articles of incorporation. It was made to always give back, never to keep.”
For now, several ceiling fans help keep hot mornings cool.
“Some days we will have to close early because of the heat,” said Hipps-Clarke, who just closed up shop early Thursday due to the afternoon temperatures.
If Bliss can’t get a new system before winter, she said they won’t be able to operate — leaving Cox without the only job she’s ever had and this small town without one of its only stores.
“They give them a chance,” said Skelton, referring to Cox who has become a close friend. “They are just like part of my family, and if I don’t have this, I don't even drink, and I would go into DTs.”
The Bliss team isn’t losing hope. They’ve raised nearly $8,000 through small fundraisers and are turning to prayer.
“I always say God comes to me in my sleep,” noted Hipps-Clarke.
She knows she has to do all she can to keep the front door open and welcome sign on.
“We have so much more to give and to do,” she said.
Clarke said they need to purchase the new HVAC system by the end of July because they’ve been told it will take at least three months for the new system to arrive.
If you'd like the donate, visit Benchmark Community Bank and ask for the Bliss HVAC fund, or you can donate to their GoFundMe.
