By Donna Miller

There are many aspects of a non-profit shelter organization and delivery that I feel the public may have limited information about.

I want to focus on one of the most important parts of The Guardian Shelter for Battered Families program today because the local community is involved in the daily operation of this program as well as the future of this program.

The Guardian Collection is and has been developed as the arm of our organization that not only provides many necessary services to our victims, but provides a useful service to our community. The Guardian Collection is our resale shop located at 624 Franklin St., in Natchez.

Our families who reside in the shelter utilize the services at the Guardian Collection to get needed clothing for school and job hunting. The Guardian Collection is also the part of our program that we use as the match monies for the majority of the grants that make it possible for us to keep our program functioning.

Each state and federal grant we attempt to receive each year requires that we have a community program that has a monetary investment in our service program. This is a standard requirement that has been in place for years.

We originally began our thrift store operation in 1995 and have had the actual retail shop at several locations over the years. It has been the standard and practice of our shop managers over these years to maintain a quality selection of merchandise that we can offer proudly to the women and children that we serve as well as to the public.

Currently our manager is Ms. Phyllis Hall and she has worked in her position with our organization for 15 years. Ms. Hall is committed to the women and men who frequent her shop, and we are very grateful that she has been able to maintain a faithful number of shoppers who know our shop has the quality and prices they are willing to afford.

The Guardian Collection has been able, over the years, to have many community members who donate their used clothing, shoes, household items, furniture and other items.

We want to take this opportunity to thank each of them for their support in this manner. The donated goods are tax deductible and each item is used to offer women and children an opportunity to begin a lifestyle that is free of violence and chaos. All monies generated remain here locally in our communities. We do not take the monies to another county to assist that county with their needs.

Our shop hours are from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. We are now open on Saturdays from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. We accept donated items during these hours as well.

We encourage the community to continue to support us in this very important part of our work and to know that we remain committed to this part of our program and hope the community will remember us when you recognize your home or closet.

We also want to take this opportunity to say a special thank you to Ms. Ann Tillman, who has made this very important part of the Guardian Shelter program a success due to her generosity through the donation of her building that houses the Guardian Collection.

Ms. Tillman has been the lady behind the scenes who has been an encouragement and certainly a blessing to us each year in this endeavor.

I will continue to say to you, Natchez, that you are the very best in your support of our work and the victims of domestic violence. I have the opportunity to meet with the program directors of all the domestic violence shelter organizations across the state and I can say to you with pride you do a great job in your support and donations to us the Guardian Shelter for Battered Families. If you have any questions regarding the Guardian Collection, please contact Ms. Hall at 601-445-0091 or me at 601-442-0142.