“The Upper Valley is a community of abundance,’’ Listen Community Services Executive Director Merilynn Bourne writes on the nonprofit agency’s website. But here, as elsewhere, abundance is not shared evenly, and Bourne says needs that exist “such as housing, food, warmth, mentoring and family support are not always visible.’’
Few would know better than Bourne, who has run the service agency for 20 years, and has announced that she is retiring July 29 at age 70. She has an unusual perspective created by working with people in need, and also observing Upper Valley shoppers on the hunt. Listen supports its operations through donations — and revenue from its three thrift shops and a furniture store. The stores brought in just over half a million dollars in 1996, according to a story by Valley News staff writer Tim Camerato. Now annual revenue is nearing the $2 million mark.
The money goes to fulfill needs: crisis counseling, heating assistance, some 300 camp scholarships annually for children, community dinners, teen life skills programs, holiday gift baskets for families and seniors, and “Housing Helpers,” which helps people come up with their first month’s rent and security deposit, or make up for a missed mortgage payment. The programs make the Upper Valley a better place to live for all as the community shares its relative abundance.
Bourne came to Listen after a career in retail; she pushed to upgrade its stores, candidly calling the Canaan store “one of the darkest, dingiest, most unappealing spaces I’ve ever seen in my life.” That quote points out one of Bourne’s qualities: a refreshing outspokenness. Those who serve the disadvantaged need not be meek and mild.
Sales rose after a new Canaan store was built, and Listen’s newest building, River Point Plaza in White River Junction, is buzzing with activity. Next to the thrift store are the teen programs, and a community kitchen and dining room that has grown from serving 10,000 meals annually in church halls and basements to nearly 29,000 now in a single location.
The timing of the growth has been fortunate. The Great Recession, which brought a virtual wage freeze to the working and middle classes, nudged — or forced — many to economize, and that doesn’t seem to be changing. According to the Association of Retail Professionals, the resale industry has experienced a growth of 7 percent in each of the last two years.
Thrift stores are one place where the classes mix, seeking bargains. The struggling need affordable winter clothes for their children, for example, while those better off look for better brands at a discount. Thrift stores have nurtured the Upper Valley’s fashion vibe — casual recycled chic.
The recent history of Listen speaks for itself: Much good has come during Bourne’s years at the helm. Its formula of community service and shopping has proved irresistible in the Upper Valley, and the region will be better off — and better dressed — if that continues into the future, as we trust it will.