Time To Help Local Youth
By: Leah Kirstein
Updated: March 21, 2012
DUBOIS, CLEARFIELD COUNTY - At the age of 23, Elaine Newkirk, fostered her first children. Her sister, then 14 needed a place to stay and brought two friends with her.
"My mother had remarried and moved to a different county and my sister wanted to stay in the school she was in to finish her high school years and of course, I was on my own and I said that she could come and in the process of her coming she brought 2 of her friends with her who had been having problems at home" said Newkirk.
Since then, she has not stopped helping local youth.
In fact, she has 5 children; 4 of which are adopted. Two of her sons were actually left on her doorstep after a 17 year old girl who was coming out of the foster system did not know where to take them.
Newkirk's latest endeavour started 3 years ago when she opened a small store in Curwensville called "There's No Tyme Like the Present".
The store provides gently used clothing to people in need at $5.00 or less.
She noticed so many people needing her services and looked to expand.
The DuBois Mall gave Newkirk a reasonable rent and allowed her to open a store.
" Just helping the families and seeing their needs and with the economy the way that it has been the last couple of years a lot of families have lost homes alot of families just can't afford certain things so that's how this store came about" she said.
Since opening in July, 150 local families have used the services.
"I spend a lot of days crying because alot of times some of the families come in and they are so overwhelmed by what we are doing and you know saying that we dont have to be doing it. It restores their dignity" she said.
To donate: TYME Ministries PO Box 375 Curwensville, PA 16833.
To donate clothes, you can head right to the store. They do ask that the clothes be washed first.
