New Paltz Twice Blessed By Secondhand Heaven

Inside a church basement, secondhand heaven awaits. 

Walk onto Huguenot Street, where you may feel transported to the past, and reach Twice Blessed Thrift Store to be transported to another universe. One of New Paltz’s best-kept secrets, it is a treasure trove of vintage goods, where items are given a second life instead of sent straight to the landfill.

Founded 20 years ago by five women of the Reformed Church, the shop began in the church basement’s little room, expanding with time to encompass the entire bottom level. True to its provenance, dedicated women keep the store open nine hours a week, volunteering their time to sort through mountains of donated boots to baby toys. 

Proceeds from the shop go towards paying the church rent for the space and to local charities, like the Family of New Paltz, Family of Woodstock and the New Paltz Community Foundation. The store also directly provides to people who struggle to afford clothing or household items.

Although Twice Blessed may be in the Reformed Church, the store’s founders prioritized having autonomy separate from the authority of the Church. The store has its own board comprised of volunteers who manage the shop and its funds.

“Anyone can come in and say, ‘I’m in need,’” Carol Jordan, the manager of Twice Blessed said. “We say, ‘Take whatever you need.’” 

Pink bunnies and Easter decorations greet you at the door, with volunteers rotating the display items depending on the season. Tinfoil mannequin heads wear bucket hats and pink wigs above clothing racks, where $2 t-shirts and $5 jackets are hung up for sale. 

There are sewing needles, satin scarves, suitcases, puzzles and antique dolls. Customers idle around as jazz music plays, making space for one another amongst the crowded racks or children playing around the Easter decorations. As I eye a pasta maker, a mother digs through a toy bin while holding her toddler. Beside us, an elderly woman thumbs a sparkly dress.  

Over 25 volunteers work at Twice Blessed, ranging in age from 19 to 90 years old, according to Jordan. You can find them in the back room, chatting as they sort donations or clothing racks beside shoppers. Some don burgundy aprons with embroidered angels floating above the “Twice Blessed” label on its front. 

Reasons for volunteering vary, like valuing sustainability or being interested in vintage clothing or dishware. The range of volunteers means they have backgrounds that help curate the store. “It works well in a group, because we all bring something to the table,” board president and artistic director Amy King said. “We all have our specialties as far as finding value in things. Carol’s very good at clothing labels. I do ceramics and art, because that’s my background.”

Vintage items are not the only items on display — the personalities of the people running the shop are. Their methods for displaying certain items endow the shop with quirk and charm, like a flower crown modelled on a stuffed penguin or a Snoopy toy wearing a jeweled necklace for sale. 

“A lot of people thrift because of the treasure hunt. I think that’s what got us all hooked,” King said. 

No matter what drew them to offer their time and services to Twice Blessed, the bonds made by the volunteers motivate them to return.

“One of the reasons that we stay is the community that we have as volunteers,” Jordan said. “It’s an opportunity to engage with people that you might not know elsewhere in your life, because it draws people for so many different reasons. We find ourselves here, and sometimes we disagree about things, or we have things we have to work through. We do that together.” 

“It brings me so much joy. I love the community, and I care about the Earth lot,” volunteer Coaimhe Mannion said. “There are already so many things on the planet, and I’m so passionate about keeping things out of the landfill.”

“At the end of the shift, me and another person who works here have fashion show time. Just having fun, trying on, getting creative with all the pieces here,” she said. According to Jordan, the volume of donated items varies according to seasons, with donations lessening in the winter but picking up during spring cleaning time. Donations are always accepted with items rarely turned away — a point of pride for the Twice Blessed crew. 

“The state forbids us to take certain items like baby cribs because of recalls,” King said. “Anything that’s donated that we can’t use or we can’t sell, we have a secondary clothing place that we send things to. We have a free rack of clothing that’s still great, very wearable. We just don’t have rooms on our racks for it.”

“Usually on Saturdays, there’s a lot of free stuff outside. It’s all usable stuff that we don’t have room for because the shop is not big enough,” she said. “We have regulars for sure that hit all those racks, which is great.” 

Not all items people give to Twice Blessed end up on the racks for sale. Instead, some go directly to aid organizations, like ASPCA shelters or the Washbourne House women’s shelter in Kingston.

“We have public school teachers who come in. If it’s something for their classroom, it’s free. No questions asked,” Jordan said.

With the amount of donations that pass through the shop, the volunteers have seen it all — from the good to the bad. The worst donation? According to King, it was an open toenail fungus cream that came in a few weeks ago but expired in 2014. 

Still, Twice Blessed receives no shortage of glamorous items. “Amy was in the parking lot last Saturday, and someone walked up to her and said, ‘I don’t know if you want these,” Jordan said. 

They were ball gowns. “Within 15 minutes, some of us have our clothes off on the backstage, and we’re in them.” 

As a university full of people who like to dress up, not down, on campus, Twice Blessed is the perfect place for them to grow their closet of esoteric finds. It also provides an alternative to fast fashion while offering clothes at affordable prices. 

“We love the college students. Of course, we have a lot of SUNY students that come,” Jordan said. 

Twice Blessed plays a vital role in New Paltz as a secondhand hub full of spirit, made possible by the hard work of volunteers. 

“If you need new things, come spend your money here and put time and energy towards things like this that are giving back to the community,” Mannion said. “A retail place that does good for the community and the earth that’s not motivated by greed.”