When Jim’s wife of 50 years passed away on May 12, 2011, he wasn’t sure what to do. Ann had been the love his life. They met at whatwas then Memphis State University and married in 1961. Seems like they’d been together forever. She became ill after developing COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and after five years, she lost the battle.

 

“My wife was a beautiful woman inside and out,” says Jim. “Ann was smart, a go-getter and loved everyone. She never met a stranger. She saw beauty in everything. She loved our dog, flowers, painting, looking nice, traveling and giving to others.”

 

 

After staring at Ann’s closet filled with nice clothes and shoes, Jim asked himself, “What am I going to do with all this stuff?” It didn’t take long for him to decide he wanted to do something with her things to honor her memory while also helping those in need. He met with Lori, a close personal friend and after careful consideration, it was decided the items would be donated to the Nashville Rescue Mission.

 

“I’ve worked in the clothing industry for many years and didn’t really like the idea of my wife’s things being put in bags for people to have to look through,” says Jim. “I look for solutions. So Lori and I met with some of the staff at the Mission and presented them with an idea to not just have a clothing room, but to have a retail-type store at the Mission where the ladies could shop.”

 

The idea was welcomed with open arms. Jim took this on as a personal project and with the help of friends Lori and Randy, the work began. What was once an ordinary room was transformed into a beautiful boutique filled with display racks, a shoe rack and jewelry case. Clothing was put on hangers and displayed “just so.”

 

 

“We are very excited about Ann’s Place. We wanted to create a special place for these ladies to shop,” said Jim. “Most of them have had difficult lives. Some say they have never felt beautiful. This is just a small way of giving them the chance to feel important and be treated like the amazing person God created them to be. The store truly stands for what Ann was about…because she loved everybody.”

 

Being the astute businessman that Jim is, there were two goals in developing Ann’s Place. The first goal was to meet a clothing need. Through developing relationships with local retailers, the hope is to acquire much needed clothing in the right sizes and that would be appropriate for the ladies to wear perhaps to church or on a job interview. The second goal was to set up a business that could be run by ladies in the program. Thus providing them with the opportunity to learn how to run a business, merchandise a store and manage inventory—all skills that could open doors to new jobs when they are ready to return to the workforce.

 

 

“I cannot tell you how much working in this store has blessed me,” says Kayla. “I came into the Mission’s life-recovery program almost seven months ago. I was beat down and felt hopeless. Once I had the chance to help with the store, it’s like a light bulb went off for me. I love clothes, jewelry and makeup. I also love helping the other ladies look pretty and feel better about themselves. I’m gaining all sorts of valuable skills from this experience that I can take with me when I graduate.”

 

“We are so excited about Ann’s Place,” says Vicki McAnulty, Director of the Hope Center. “While it is going to be set up like a store and women will be able to earn ‘phase up bucks’ to shop with, we will also open the store to those who are new to the program and in need of clothing, no one will go without. But we do want to make some things in the store extra special so that the ladies will be motivated to earn ‘bucks’ to buy these special items.”