As one walks in to 217 Savannah Avenue, the new address of Esther's Place, the warmth and cozy feel is palpable. A large reason for this is the welcome one receives when encountering founders Lori Brent and Tanya Wright.
Their genuine smiles and calm, caring demeanors make anyone feel at ease, and this new location will soon welcome a dream of theirs: a thrift boutique.
Brent explains that the idea of a thrift store to help fund the ministry of Esther's Place has been in the making for over two years.
"We've been letting God guide us and this place came up at the right time," Wright says.
In addition to the thrift store being an ongoing fundraiser and a way to reach more individuals, it will provide women in need with skills that will assist them in the future.
"With women coming out of recovery or jail, they need some of the basic job skills of working in a store, customer service, the experience that could be part of our ministry, helping them to get out in the work force," Brent says.
"We want to keep it tied together. With customers and anybody coming in, I feel like it could expand on who we're helping, getting the word out more to the community if they're coming in to shop with our Bible studies or Widow to Widow support meetings. We're going to be talking to our customers and praying with our customers . . . they won't just be a customer; they're our guests. Hopefully, that will get the word out for the different meetings that we have," Wright explains.
Esther's Place also hosts a daily devotion time and SAMOAs (Statesboro Moms of Addicts) meetings. They provide showers, laundry services, professional attire for women in need, and weekly meals for nearly 20 families.
They are also continually seeking community partners to assist them in helping the women of Bulloch County.
Jim and Nick's, Chicken Salad Chick, and Big Dog Snow Cones have reached out to Brent and Wright in the past to help provide the meals that give single moms a night off from cooking to spend quality time with their children.
"That was a wonderful thing to have a business reach out to us; we didn't have to reach out to them," Wright says. "We [also] have some wonderful women that help with that who reached out to us and said they wanted to start making meals, so that's been a hit with our families."
Ranging in price from $1.00 to $10.00, the thrift store enables Esther's Place to continue their ministry. The inventory, clothes, purses, home decor and kitchen items, includes brand-name items, some of which still has the original tags and is donated at no cost to the nonprofit.
"100% of our profits will go back into the ministry to help the women and their children in this community so it all goes right back into helping the women," Wright says.
The ministry will be open Tuesdays to Fridays from 9:00am - 5:00pm, and the thrift store will be open from 10:00am - 4:00pm, and Saturdays from 10:00 - 2:00pm.
Please note that the thrift store is not yet open to the public. Brent, Wright, and volunteers are working diligently to tentatively open on March 15, 2025. Please monitor the Esther's Place Facebook page for updated information on the opening.
Brent and Wright would also like Bulloch County residents to save the date of May 3, 2025, the date of their second-annual fundraiser, Esther in the Boro.
For more information about Esther's Place, please visit their website or send an email to: info.esthersplace@gmail.com.