Fabulous Finds is a donation center first and foremost but also serves as a community resale store located in downtown Big Rapids, all proceeds go to WISE.
WISE is a non-profit organization committed to providing shelter and support to victims and their families of domestic violence and sexual assault. Since 1984 when WISE began as a grass roots program they have grown and services have expanded. The WISE Shopper was one of those wonderful leaps.
On October 2, 1997 the Executive Director, Pam Forbes, wrote a memo to community service agencies;
"...The communities of Mecosta, Osceola and Newaygo counties have been very supportive and generous to WISE in the past 13 years, donating many items for clients. However, as our program has grown, we have found ourselves with a pleasant dilemma: too many donations and not enough space to enable our clients to access the items in a convenient and dignified manner..."
The goal for this little resale shop was to assist WISE in continuing their mission providing safety support and advocacy services to victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, encouraging empowerment of victims and working towards the advancement of equality of all people through awareness and prevention activities. The WISE Shopper was also a project that staff hoped would bring more stability to its financial position by being not only a donation center, but a resale shop as well.
Nearly 15 years later, WISE's resale shop, now called Fabulous Finds, still serves the same purpose and is flourishing. We are proud to be a part of downtown in such a great and friendly community. Thank you for all of your support Big Rapids!
