Justine Carr, Centretown News
Vintage antique shop HighJinx has found a new home at 403 Catherine St.After some uncertainty and a lot of community help, local social enterprise HighJinx has found its new home in Centretown. The vintage and oddities shop once on Somerset Avenue now lives in a larger home on Catherine Street, where owners Karen Neilsen and Leigh Reid have been able to expand the help they give their neighbours.
The new location has given the women more space and resources to expand their services.
The business runs almost entirely by donations which Nielsen and Reid clean up and sell as vintage and antique pieces, also taking donations that go directly to people in need. The proceeds from the shop go to maintaining the space, keeping the owners in their homes, and the entire net profit goes to supporting vulnerable community members. They give people clothes, furniture, and food as needed.
The former social workers opened shop for the first time in Centretown in 2011, but had to make a sudden move in October when their rental agreement came to a close. Through a series of fundraisers in Centretown, the shop ensured they had enough money for the move.
The move closed the store for six weeks, but it didn’t stop Neilsen and Reid from continuing to help the community.
“We actually worked harder during that six-week period,” Neilsen says. “We fed them out of our homes. Our homes were opened for the furniture bank and food bank and the hot meal every Friday. We did tons of home visits to make sure the people that weren’t coming to our homes were still taken care of.”
In the past, the shop has acted as a space to feed people warm food on “feeding Fridays” and give informal help to those in need.
Now HighJinx has three floors, including a basement with a full furniture bank and a workshop area for people to work on projects, as well as a backyard.
The second floor has a long community table where Neilsen and Reid can host meals and education programs.
With more than 17 volunteers, Reid says they now have the space to bring in volunteers to focus on holistic healing, empowering people to gain the confidence they need.
“It’s easier for someone to come in and cook a meal or have someone teach a workshop on how to stretch your ingredients that you get at the food bank, little things like that,” Reid says.
Reid hopes the skills vulnerable community members develop at the shop can help give them ways to find work and take care of themselves wherever they live.
A new backyard will not only give extra room for events but also be home to a large community garden. A kitchen will be installed by the end of February.
“Once the kitchen is done, we can have guests come in and cook, we can provide food almost every day based on what’s donated and what’s happening,” Neilsen says. “A proper kitchen means we can serve people better. There’s a bar they can sit at, it’s not just haphazardly done in the back of the store. It’ll feel more like home.”
The shop has reached out to members of the community about its new location. Neilsen and Reid are also working on notifying others, especially in the winter months.
After local knitters donated scarves to the store, HighJinx regular Johnny was able to get a scarf to help stay warm. Neilsen says Johnny had the idea of tying scarves to posts and trees around Centretown asking people to take one if they need it and to visit the shop.
“It’s a way to get some help to people who wouldn’t normally get it,” she says.
“We don’t take any government funding, we do it all through grassroots helping. Neighbours helping neighbours, keeping it really simple.”