Colorado Springs Service Project – TESSA

Joyful Spaces teamed up with 6 Colorado Springs professional organizing companies to help out a local nonprofit: TESSA. Take a peek at what we were able to accomplish together!

THE LOCAL PARTNER

TESSA empowers victims of partner and sexual violence to take back the life that is rightfully theirs. Their motto is everyone deserves to be safe.

Many of their clients are fleeing an unsafe situation with only the clothes on their backs. They have a donation room to help families with immediate needs for clothes, personal hygiene, baby and kids’ items, and bedding.

THE PROJECT

TESSA relies on volunteers and interns to keep the space stocked and organized. The space really needed a cohesive system and a more efficient layout to better serve their clients.

TESSA is one of our Sponsor A Space partners and they asked for help with organizing their donation room. We thought this would be the perfect opportunity to collaborate with other organizing companies to do a big makeover of the space!

From donation warehouse to a boutique experience

TESSA envisioned turning this donation room into a space where clients can “shop” for items with dignity.

The problem was — the space felt more like a donation warehouse.

Piles of donations to sort, clothes and shoes stored in plastic tubs, and hygiene categories grouped in scattered spots around the room.

Because of this, only TESSA staff go into the space to pick out items for clients.

The result was a huge makeover!

TESSA is much closer to realizing its vision of creating a welcoming shopping experience for clients.

This transformation was only possible with the help of MANY people:

1. Extra hours from TESSA staff
2. Several community volunteers
3. A very generous donor
4. Multiple teams of professional organizers (they’re listed below)

The power of organization systems

Many staff access this room and different groups of volunteers maintain the space.

Solid organization systems are a truly a necessity to create a space that is EASY to maintain! We implemented the following systems to set a foundation that TESSA can build upon.

How did we do it?

1. Made items more accessible

We used clear, open bins to contain smaller items like socks, hygiene, and school supplies. Labeling those containers created a clear, organized system for their long shelves.

Empty bins will be easy to refill from larger back-stock bins. It’s a lot less stressful to have a select amount of choices compared to having to rifle through an extra large tote of supplies.

Shoes are now on a shoe rack for an easy shopping experience. They were previously kept in extra large totes that had to be taken down and dug through to see what was available.

2. Backstock bins

Near the open bins are larger totes of backstock items. These bins are clearly organized and labeled. This makes it easy for volunteers to restock the shoppable bin.

3. Flexible storage

TESSA had a generous donor provide the new black clothing racks. These racks are on wheels and the shelves are adjustable.

The space is still in transition as they secure funding to purchase more racks and shelves. These racks are multifunctional to accommodate any changing needs.

4. Uniform style

It may seem like a trivial priority, but this is a big part of creating a welcoming environment. A uniform style is key to elevating the feel of a space and creating a cohesive experience.

This is also in-line with TESSA’s goal to create a retail shopping experience to empower clients to choose their own belongings with dignity.

Watch us hard at work in a video on our Facebook page – you can see all the before and after photos there!

Colorado Springs Professional Organizing Collaborators

Special thanks to everyone who joined us in this special project!

Here are the 7 Professional Organizers in Colorado Springs who helped:

1. Gale Force Organizers
2. Grace to Organize
3. Joyful Spaces
4. Julie Nasser
5. The Organized Flamingo
6. The Simple Sort
7. Redefining Spaces

We really appreciated this opportunity to give back to the community.

Thank you, TESSA!

This was our first collaborative project with other professional organizing companies, and hopefully not the last! Thank you to everyone who came together for this great cause.

Wish you could have helped too? You still can!

TESSA is seeking donations to purchase more shelving and organizing supplies. If you could help out, contact their Donor Relations Coordinator at 719-785-6817 or email cmiller@tessacs.org.