Sallies shop moves to new home
A new premises for the Salvation Army Family Store has its manager comparing it to a beautiful ‘‘hotel lobby’’.
The Salvation Army op shop was forced to move from its former premises on Vanguard St when the building was sold but the new site, although slightly smaller, is spot on.
Nelson Salvation Army Family Store manager Margaret Earney said the space was ‘‘beautiful’’.
‘‘It’s much lighter and has a completely different feel about it.
‘‘Everything sparkles and there’s just a nice energy about it and a nice flow about this building.’’
The space, on Paru Paru Rd has exposure to Trafalgar Centre visitors, Nelson’s Elma Turner library and Countdown and Earney said it would be good for attracting new customers.
Earney, her assistant manager Janice Feyen and the store’s 25 active volunteers have the store running like a finely tuned machine.
Earney said the shop was also a training ground for people.
Plenty of people came from the court system and did community hours.
‘‘We mentor them. They sit at a table and eat with us, just have experiences they might not have had to show they are valued here.’’
She said others were directed to her through Work & Income to learn to get back into the workforce.
Everyone had their part to play according to their strengths, she said.
‘‘Whether you come from probation or Work and Income or you come because you live in a $6 million house and you’ve got a beautiful heart and want to make a difference, we put you in a place where you belong.’’
She said it was amazing to see the transformations of some of the volunteers.
Isaac Guyer offered his time for more than two years before becoming the store’s truck driver and a mentor.
He started out being ‘‘quite shy’’ and now ‘‘he’s just grown as a person’’, Earney said.
The store sells 300 to 500 items a day, raising money to give back to the community.
Six years ago, $12,000 worth of bedding and clothing was given away to people in need. Last year, that figure jumped to $39,000.
‘‘Just with increasing the profit we’re able to increase what we give to the community. There is a huge need out in the com- munity and we can help with that.’’
The Salvation Army offers help with budgeting, counselling, food parcels, furniture and blankets.
Earney said it wasn’t just ‘‘band-aiding people’’.
‘‘We’re actually wanting to walk with people and help.’’
And it’s evident in the smiles on the volunteers’ faces.
‘‘The magic here is what happens with people, the objects are just our way of participating with the community.’’ Today I hope to unwrap some of the mystery surrounding oral language.
It is a topic we often hear mentioned and essentially it’s recognising that learning to talk and to think are deeply connected.
Thinking (cognition) and language hold hands.
We use language to think and our thoughts are our words.
It is a process that requires high levels of brain power.
It relies on us using our speech muscles in our mouth to make the specific sounds and words, as well as using our brains to understand what is being said to us, and to convey our message.
We select and modify our thoughts, words, grammatical structures, and eventually, we learn to ‘‘read’’ the social situation and chose what is appropriate to that context.
Up until recently we have expected our children to do all this automatically, but we now know this complex process of learning oral language requires adult support.