Providing jobs with a purpose

Purpose Place Thrift Market was born out of love and panic, said founder and manager Tracey Martin. 

Martin said she is not interested in hiring the most qualified employees, but to be a welcoming workplace.

Just that morning, screaming and hitting ensued as the Mountain Brook resident struggled to pull one of her workers out of the car. The employee was her son, who has severe autism.

The mother of five has two 15-year-old children with different degrees of autism. As they entered high school, Martin said she began to worry about their future, realizing that it would be difficult for them to find a job.

That spurred her to start Purpose Place Thrift Market, located in Irondale. The purpose of the store is to hire people with special needs and offer them a welcoming workplace that will allow them to gain work experience that may help them get a better job in the future.

“I wanted to make a place that would be community friendly, that would be low pressure for them, where they could learn vocational skills and social skills and just be incorporated into the community,” Martin said. “A place where they felt loved and welcomed and that they could be proud to come in and have a job … with a view to empower them.”

She said she sees the store as not only helping people with special needs, but also serving the community, as people can buy high-quality, secondhand goods or handmade crafts for a low price. In addition, one of the volunteers is starting an online store for higher-end items, and Seeds Coffee in Homewood will be opening a coffee bar in the store.

Tammi Trawick, a member of the Purpose Place volunteer team, experienced many of the same thoughts and emotions as Martin while raising her own autistic son.

“Part of what we experience in our life is wanting [him] to feel at peace and to belong and to be fulfilled as a person the same way our younger son will as he goes through his life,” Trawick said. “Especially as he becomes an adult, you want him to feel complete and feel like he is a part of the world and a part of life, just the same as all of us.”

Before the official interview and hiring process, potential employees meet with a job coach who can assess their strengths and assign them a job, which can include placing price stickers on items, working at the coffee bar or running the online store. 

Currently, an employee confined to a wheelchair works as a greeter. The amount of time the individuals work will be flexible, depending on what they can handle, probably an average of two or three hours. A “chill room” will also be provided for employees or family members who need a break from being at work.

Martin recalls times when her son insisted on wearing Superman pajamas and pink flip-flops to church. She wants to create a work environment that accommodates those quirks. 

“You’re meeting the person,” Trawick said. “You can draw out their skills … give them a job that they can do and a place where they can actually do it and succeed at it and that’s what places like Purpose Place will give to the community.”

After brainstorming a few names for the store, Martin placed a vote on Facebook. The choice of “Purpose Place” was unanimous. 

“Someone mentioned to me not too long ago that a person’s self-esteem is entirely based on them having a purpose in life, feeling like they have a place,” Trawick said. “Even as a volunteer, I feel like a have a purpose ... I can come, and I can contribute. I can be a part of helping these people feel like they’ve got a place.”

 “Normally, we pull into the parking lot, and he comes straight in,” Martin said, referring to her son. “He’s happiest when he has something to do … These individuals with special needs or disabilities, they have a place. They deserve to be recognized.” 

She said she hopes that the thrift market will expand, envisioning Purpose Place Café and other businesses that can work with people with special needs. 

“With our kids, there’s always an angst there … what if something happens to us? What about their future?” Martin said. “Now, we’re raising the flag …We’re going to make mistakes, but we want people to know that there is hope. Don’t despair if your kid gets a diagnosis. There are others out there who understand what you’re going through. We’re all in it together … We’re doing this for our kids.”

Purpose Place Thrift Market is at 1630 Crestwood Blvd. in Irondale. For more information, go to purposeplacemarket.com.