Murphy – Hot dogs weren’t the only things being put on the grill on Aug. 25 at the Friendship House Reseller thrift store.
After 15 years of mortgage payments, the note on the store is finally paid off. To celebrate the financial freedom of the store that helps fund the Hurlburt-Johnson Friendship House homeless shelter downtown, board members, pastors, special guests and members of the community gathered to see the mock mortgage go up in flames. It was a cheerful celebration of the final bill.
Pastor Toby Roehm of Marble Springs Baptist Church supports the homeless shelter and Friendship House Reseller ministries.
“You don’t get to see mortgage burnings very often, they’re pretty rare. Typically, mortgages are about 30 years,” he said. “Now it may free up funds to be able to do other things. It’s pretty exciting.”
Among those present were pastors Tim Huff of Murphy Free Methodist Church and Jonathan Hodges from Murphy Presbyterian Church. Victoria Ivie, executive director of the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce, and Marlana Baker of N.C. Cooperative Extension were happy to see the homeless shelter’s board treasurer, Vickie Dockery, light the grill.
In 2008, the thrift store benefitting the homeless shelter was started in the basement of The Daily Grind & Wine downtown, below where The Mason Bar is today. Its name back then was known as the ReCellar.
The store grew to the point that it needed a new and larger location, so in 2012 it moved to 1335 U.S. 64, former home of a local church. That’s when the spelling of ReCellar changed.
In 2021, the store underwent another name change to better align with its purpose of supporting the homeless shelter, becoming officially known as the Murphy Homeless Shelter Thrift Store. The shelter helps homeless families and individuals in Cherokee and surrounding counties.
There is already a vision for the money being saved by not paying a mortgage.
“We’d like to see the homeless shelter expand its ministry specifically to help those with mental health issues,” Huff said. “We’d like to more adequately support those with mental health issues, that is our hope.”
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