Rachel’s Thrift Shop in Stuart sits eerily quiet. The lighthearted window decorations are covered over with soot.

More than a year after the July 28 blaze, Donna Turner, director, said she still grapples to understand why.

The shop and its 15 regular volunteers served mainly women and children – those who needed clothing, support or prayer, according to Turner. The shop also served families going through crisis, including abusive relationships.

According to a social media post, the shop ministered to hundreds of unwed mothers, battered and abused women, the homeless, individuals coming out of prison and jail, victims of fire and domestic abuse and illness.

“We’ve given tens of thousands of dollars worth of thrift and clothing, each year, back into the community,” Turner said, and added she does not know why anyone would want to destroy the place that helped so many.

She recalled the store had what she referred to as a “Ploppers Place,’” basically an area for people to sit on a couch, talk and pet Louie, the cat, who offered ‘Louie therapy’ to whomever was in need.

“We would pray, laugh, drink coffee, whatever” in that area, Turner said, about the space that doubled for other uses.

For instance, if a large donation was received before the store closed for the day, “we would bring the items inside before closing. Sometimes, we would stay in the store until” midnight or after, sorting and putting the donated items out for display, Turner said.

On occasion, Turner said she or other volunteers who worked late would catch 40 winks on the sofa. “We did that a lot.”

Since Turner and volunteers parked in another location due to limited parking at the store, “the person who came and started that fire didn’t know a person wasn’t asleep on the other side of that couch. A human being could have easily” perished in the blaze, she said.

As it was, the contents of the thrift store were destroyed, as the flames spread into the upper structure, which housed a hardware store. The only loss of life in either store was Louie, the cat.

Louie was trapped in the blaze, unable to find an escape. That, she said, was a sad epitaph for the feline beloved by so many.

“We found him near the back of the store, in the book room,” Turner said. “We have a picture of where we picked up his body. He must have been so scared.”

The shop was open for six years in the Stuart location, starting out in 2,000-square-feet of space, or about one side of the store, Turner said.

“The first year we were there, we didn’t have water, or a bathroom,” Turner said. But the community continued to support the organization, and it eventually expanded to occupy the whole space.

“Later we got all that, but it was small beginnings, that’s for certain. We put tens of thousands of dollars worth of thrift merchandise back into the community, and that was at our prices,” she said.

Turner said the shop’s popularity was because it filled a gap in the community.

“When people needed clothes for whatever reason,” the thrift store helped, she said. “When they come in, they didn’t have to prove to us that they were needy. We jumped in and helped.”

The Red Cross also sent fire victims to the shop, she said, and added that generally, a family could receive up to $100 worth of thrift and clothing per year. Turner said if the family was totally destitute, the shop would continue to help.

Also, “we always had food for the homeless,” Turner said. “I had a kitchen. I made sure they had food.”

All the money made at the store “went back into helping the community. None of us got paid,” Turner said, and added the thrift store did offer a work program to volunteers. The pay scale was $1 to $8 per hour, depending on the number of hours worked. Any earnings were given as a store credit, and had to be spent in the thrift shop, she said.

The shop that helped so many is now asking for help from the community, both in terms of helping find alternative revenue sources to get the store back up and running and also to ensure justice.

Without the shop, the reality now is “our source of revenue is gone,” Turner said.

She explained the shop project has been part of Elijah Ministries in Texas for 13 years. The agency is nonprofit; all donations are tax deductible. Additionally, Turner said the agency is accountable to a board of directors.

Unfortunately, it did not have local church or ministry support, partly because “we’ve never asked for it,” Turner said.

Through it all, Turner said she has not abandoned her quest to help those who are hurting.

Unfortunately, the reality is “unless we get some kind of community or church support,” the shop likely will not reopen, Turner said, and added she lacks the skills to solicit support, write grants, etc.

“But I know there are people out there who can. I would love it if somebody wanted to jump in” and help with the project, Turner said. “I loved the thrift shop,” and so did many others.

No arrests have been in the case, according to Patrick County Sheriff Dan Smith, but the investigation is continuing.

“We are offering a reward for any information that leads to the arrest of the person or persons responsible,” Smith said. “This is an open, active and ongoing investigation, and it is a high priority.”

Anyone with any information is asked to call investigator Brian Hubbard at (276) 692-6512 or Smith at (276) 692-7012.