Like dozens of secondhand shops in Denver, Safari Seconds Thrift Store boasts an array of used clothes, kitchenware, cast-off appliances, old magazines and baby strollers whose former occupants are now ready for driver’s ed.
But sales at Safari Seconds benefit a special group: They are refugees who have relocated here, fleeing war and political strife from Somalia to Southeast Asia.
“We’re principally a refugee resettlement program,” said Jennifer Gueddiche, director of the African Community Center, the sponsoring organization.
Its name notwithstanding, the center serves refugees from all nations, up to 500 in any given year. Aided by federal funding, the center provides job training and language instruction for newcomers.
Most importantly, it helps set them up with housing and housewares.
For many refugees, it is the first stability they have encountered.
Fadumo Yusuf, who lived in Somalia when the nation’s first civil war broke out in 1991, arrived in Denver nearly two years ago.
“We had terrible problems in Somalia,” she said. “It was so very bad. Here, it is safe.”
Yusuf works at the store, a cavernous warren at 410 Broadway. She processes items and brings order to the rows of packed shelves.
Working the cash register on Friday afternoon was Abdul Rakeem, a refugee from Afghanistan. “This is where I learned to speak English,” he told me. “Right here. It has meant so much to me.”
When many refugees arrive, they are traumatized by the horrors they have endured. Working in the store brings a sense of normalcy and self-worth.
“We had one woman who came from Burma with five children, one severely disabled,” said staffer Julia Paul. “She had huge anxiety issues. But she’s been in the training program for five months, and it’s made a huge difference.
“Watching these people go through this transformation is amazing.”
The store opened in 2005, partly with funding from the Denver Office of Economic Development.
For all the good the operation has done for the refugees, when you talk with the store’s volunteers, it becomes clear that the benefits are a two-way street.
“I feel close to these people in a way that I wouldn’t in a regular job,” said Shauna Agan, a store staffer. “We have big community dinners every Tuesday night.”
“These people are truly deserving of compassion,” Gueddiche said. “They are people just like us whose lives were disrupted because they’re the wrong tribe or they voted for the wrong person in an election.”
Despite its unique mission, Safari Seconds chugs along much like other businesses. This month features an “overstock blowout sale.”
The store will soon expand, moving into an adjacent optical shop. Along with an additional 1,600 square feet, this will give the store a Broadway storefront and greater visibility.
That will mean more shoppers. And just maybe, more volunteers to help the refugees.
Gueddiche isn’t in lock step with everything the federal government does, but she is a champion of its resettlement program.
She said, “I really do think it’s one of the things this nation can be proudest of.”
William Porter’s column runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at 303-954-1977 or wporter@denverpost.com
