We’re excited to announce a new location
and a new name for our thrift store:

Our new Encore Thrift Store is now open at 4640 Merle Hay Road in Urbandale! We hope you will stop by to see our expanded retail space and shop for low-cost clothing, shoes, furniture and other slightly used items. We’re also now accepting donations at this location.

About our Encore Thrift Store

Revenue from our Encore Thrift Store supports Hope Ministries’ mission of serving homeless and hungry men, women and children. So whether you’re shopping at our store or donating items that could be sold, you’re helping support our emergency shelter and long-term, residential life-recovery services! 

Thrift store: The retail area of our Encore Thrift Store provides customers with quality low-priced clothing, books, shoes, household items, furniture and much more. All items have been donated and are priced according to industry standards. 

Donation center: We are so grateful to donors who choose to place their excess and slightly used items in the hands of Hope Ministries as in-kind donations. Our goal is to be good stewards of every donation. Donations are accepted during business hours and are sorted, cleaned and priced by our staff and volunteers.
Some donations make their way to one of our shelter and recovery facilities to be distributed free to our shelter guests. Other donations are distributed free to those who are in need through area social service agencies and churches who are a part of our King’s Closet program. Finally, others are placed on the shelves in our store. Your donation—whether given away free or sold—helps us help those who are homeless and in need! 

Recycling center: Stewardship is one of our core values at Hope Ministries so we try to recycle whenever and however we can. Some items, like worn-out shoes or raggedy clothes, cannot be used by the men, women and children we serve, nor can they be sold in our store. Instead, we “recycle” these donations by baling and selling them to companies who can use them.

For instance, one company is able to use the rubber soles of shoes, while others send bales of clothing to third-world countries or shred for insulation. We recycle shoes, books, belts, purses, bags, hats, stuffed toys, cardboard, metal and more. Dollars generated by the sale of unusable, recyclable items cycle right back into our ministry, helping the homeless and hungry in Des Moines. 

Volunteer hub: More than 3,000 volunteers cycle through Hope Ministries each year! Encore Thrift Store is the “hub” for many of those volunteers. Volunteers help with everything from sorting donations to hanging clothes to pricing. Both individuals and volunteers groups are welcome at Hope Bargain Center. We invite you to explore these and other opportunities in the volunteer section of our website or call us at (515) 265-7272. 

Business & Donation Hours

Encore Thrift Store officially opens for business on Wednesday, May 1. Our hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. We are closed on Sundays.

Donations of clothing and other items can be dropped off during business hours

Many people call to ask us to pick up their donation. We rely mainly on donors to bring their in-kind donations to our Encore Thrift Store. Donations may also be dropped off at our Bethel Mission facility (1310 6th Avenue, Des Moines) or our Door of Faith facility (6701 SW 9th, Des Moines) from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Currently our donation pick-up service is limited to a few days a week. If you require a pick-up, please contact us during our business hours at (515) 262-0876. 

Volunteering

Our Encore Thrift Store is staffed by paid employees. We greatly rely on volunteers to help operate our store! Youth groups, church small groups, civic and service groups and employee groups are all welcome. Individual and group volunteers can schedule a one-time service project or a regular weekly or monthly commitment.

Youth groups: We have a special group volunteer opportunity for church youth groups on Wednesday evenings. Our growing number of Wednesday night volunteers have become friends and say they look forward to their weekly time together. Groups come from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday evenings. If your youth group is interested in scheduling a Wednesday evening, feel free to fill out our online group volunteer registration form or call (515) 265-7272.
To learn more about volunteering, click here or feel free to contact us at (515) 265-7272 or info@hopeiowa.org with questions or to schedule a volunteer time. Or, you can fill out either our individual volunteer registration form or our group volunteer registration form.

King’s Closet Program & Free Clothing

Through our King’s Closet program, we partner with area agencies and churches to meet the clothing needs of low-income individuals and families in our community. People can receive vouchers for FREE clothing from our partnering agencies and churches, then bring those vouchers to our Encore Thrift Store and shop for clothing. To learn more about our King’s Closet program, click here. 

We also give away free clothing at our Bethel Mission facility clothes closet. Homeless men at our Bethel Mission and Door of Faith ministry centers have access to our clothes closet at no cost. In fact, any man who knocks on our door who needs clothing—regardless of whether or not they’re staying in our shelter—can take advantage of our free clothes closet at our Bethel Mission facility. 

In addition, we provide vouchers to homeless women and children living at our Hope Family Center, so they can receive free clothing from our Encore Thrift Store.