How to go
What: Adventures in Thrift, a new thrift store
Where: 1115 E. Third St., Dayton
When: Opens on July 5 at 10 a.m.
More info: 937-938-5781 or www.goodshepherdministries.net
Dale Nieberding was a landscaper by trade, but in 1994 he decided to plant a new kind of seed. He was inspired to start Good Shepherd Ministries after two small-group meetings he had with Mother Theresa at her Church Foundation in the Bronx, N.Y., in the mid-1980s. It was an idea to help ex-offenders get re-established in life with transitional housing and programs.
The idea took a long time to germinate, as he ended up selling his business in Akron and moving a total of 16 times in seven years. The 1976 Carroll High School graduate finally settled back in Dayton to get started. In 2001 he used his own money to open a transitional home on Linden Avenue with his own money.
“To date, we’ve helped 277 ex-offenders with housing,” Nieberding said.
One of those fellows heads up his long list of successful transitions.
“A gentleman named Tom served 20 years in prison and is now married with both a house and a car. That’s a great measure of status for an ex-offender,” said Nieberding. “He’s currently signed up online to go to Bible college; he wants to go into ministry.”
The Good Shepherd Ministries offices have recently moved to a new site at 1115 E. Third St. in Dayton. The 7,000 square-foot site used to house a heating and air conditioning company. The building is large enough to hold hundreds of items for a thrift store. Adventures in Thrift will open to the public on July 5.
“We only paid $12,500 for the building and it has a brand new roof and knotty-wood pine paneling throughout,” said Nieberding. “It would cost nearly $500,000 to replace it today. So God multiplies resources just like Jesus did with the barley loaves.”
The store will sell a variety of items at thrift-store prices: clothing, coats, furniture, glassware, shoes, figurines, hardware items, tools, household items, coats, and electronics. Shoppers also have 180 types of fresh-cut perennial flowers from which to choose. The money from the ongoing thrift sales will help finance the needs of Good Shepherd Ministries.
Nieberding has had plenty of help to get this thrift store up and running.
Three years ago, he received a large grant from PNC Bank for development, and Chaminade-Julienne students helped paint the building a sky blue. He received a grant from Church of the Incarnation for new windows, Brockman & Sons gave the a new furnace, and Environmental Engineering Systems is providing the air conditioning. He also has anonymous suppliers for paper and plumbing.
“People are very kind. One time I prayed about getting toilet paper. Then a church north of Dayton took up a collection for a year’s supply of that,” said Nieberding. “God really provides.”
Nieberding has a bachelor’s degree in divinity and is two credits shy of a masters in divinity from St. Paul University in Ottawa, Ontario.
“Now I’m learning from the school of hard knocks. This is hardest degree I’ve ever had to accomplish,” said Nieberding. “No one teaches you how to run a transitional house. You create policies, they circumvent them, then you create new policies.”
The ex-offenders come with their own assortment of problems; drugs and alcohol are a big issue. But Good Shepherd Ministries comes alongside these men to help them recover from this lifestyle so they can gain successful re-entry into society. The ninety-day program includes Christian discipleship readings and reflections,drug and alcohol counseling, spiritual counseling, and job coaching/referrals.
Nieberding would welcome help to sort, stock and price the items for the store. If you’d like to volunteer or donate to the cause, visit the website at www.goodshepherdministries.net for more information.
“After nearly four years of construction dust, Good Shepherd Ministries is ready to launch Adventures in Thrift,” said Nieberding. “With donations of labor and items coming in from Vandalia, Dayton, Huber Heights, New Carlisle, Beavercreek, Tipp City, Oakwood, Kettering Centerville, Trotwood, Englewood, Riverside and Springboro, it truly is a community event,” Nieberding said.
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