Nora Duguid, Centretown News
Vintage antique shop Highjinx has been a blessing for people in need.Part-time curiosity shop, part-time food bank and full-time labour of love.
Chinatown’s HighJinx has been a local landmark for people in need.
The little shop that sold donated antiques, oddities and retro items to help the community’s vulnerable closed its doors at 621 Somerset St. W. for the last time on Oct. 7, after three-and-a-half years in operation.
But co-owners Karen Nielsen and Leigh Reid promise they won’t be gone for long. The former social workers have been searching for a new location in Centretown ever since they found out their rental agreement would come to an end this month.
While operational, the two women were helping vulnerable neighbours find housing, putting on a meal for the community every week called “feeding Friday” and running a food pantry and furniture bank that anyone in need could access, says Reid.
Despite HighJinx being “homeless,” Reid joked, neighbours will still be able to access services by phoning her or Nielsen.
“Karen and I will do home visits, we’ll just go out in the community and do our work,” she says.
The food pantry has been moved to Nielsen’s home until a new location is pinned down, says Reid.
HighJinx was operating as an unregistered non-profit organization and took no government funding. “We just didn’t fit in any of the boxes that are mandated to get (funding) . . . we won’t put ourselves in a box,” says Reid.
Furniture, items and food were largely donated and local restaurants would often provide meals for “feeding Fridays,” she says.
Sales from the retail store kept the business going and all net profits and cash donations were used to support people in need, explained Nielsen in an e-mail.
In recent weeks, roles have been unexpectedly reversed – the community is showing its support for the women who made it their mission to give back.
The move “wasn’t something we had budgeted for,” says Reid. “It really hindered us, but . . . the community is coming together greatly to rally around us and help us.”
A craft-and-bake sale at neighbouring Shanghai Restaurant and a benefit with live music at The Daily Grind just down the street from HighJinx are among community fundraisers that have helped cover moving costs and last month’s rent, says Reid.
What HighJinx brought to the community was “immeasurable,” says Kat Clarida, art therapist and HighJinx supporter and volunteer. “They make people’s lives better.”
Reid describes her and Nielsen’s charitable efforts as “non-traditional” social work.
Clarida says that social work is about being there for people. “Non-traditional (social work) is without the red tape. If people need help, you help them. You don’t have to fill out 75 forms, you don’t have to get cleared, you just help,” she says.
Reid says the new location, when found, will definitely be in Centretown. “This is our ‘hood. We both live here as well, so we’re invested in it.”
If circumstances permit, HighJinx will re-open in early November, says Reid.