By Taylor Boyd
The Jesus House Clothing Ministry has closed, after serving the county for more than seven years.
Van Rowe, who started the clothing ministry, said he is currently working on a plan to potentially reopen the Christian-based organization.
Rowe said the organization closed because the building it where it was housed recently was sold.
“It used to be the old Jaycee Building on Via Avenue, where the group would have their meetings. They let us use the building while it was on the market,” he said. Although he knew the building was for sale and there was a possibility of closing, “it still came as a surprise.”
Rowe said the organization rehomed its clothing items to other clothing ministries and foreign ministries since getting the notice to move.
Rowe said the success of the organization is due to the efforts of Belinda Barnes, who managed the clothing ministry.
“Without her we wouldn’t have had The Jesus House,” Rowe said, adding “I was talking to Ivalien Reynolds about who would be a good person to run the clothing ministry because she knew everybody. She said to talk to this woman (Barnes) who had a background in volunteer work.”
Barnes “was perfect for the job,” he said, adding he told Barnes “‘I’ll be Moses if you’ll be Aaron’ on this project.”
Although the ministry is now closed, Rowe said he is proud of the work it accomplished. Since opening in 2013, more than 180,000 articles of clothing were distributed free to county residents, he said.
“I went in there one day, and there was a large rack of suits. They were all gone a few weeks later when I returned. Belinda told me there had been six funerals that week, and men came to get suits so they could show their respect at the funerals,” he said.
The clothing ministry also was popular among widows who wanted to donate their late husbands’ wardrobes, he said. “They didn’t want their husbands’ clothes to be bought and sold. They wanted to make sure the clothes were going to homes that needed them.”
Mothers were another popular client, according to Rowe.
“Mothers would come in to get their kids new wardrobes. They would replace what they took with what their kids outgrew,” Rowe said. “The Jesus House really had a little bit of everything for everyone.”
There is a possibility to recreate and expand ministry in the future, Rowe said, and added plans are in the works, but he does not want to say too much before they are finalized.
But Rowe said he remains optimistic.
“When one door closes, another (door) opens,” he added.
