Drop-off locations
The Chambliss Center thrift store truck will be at the following locations from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. accepting donations on the listed dates.June 10: Church of the Good Shepherd, Lookout MountainJune 17: Pruett’s Market, Signal MountainJune 24: El Primo Restaurant, Riverview
The Chambliss Center's new early childhood education center will help babies from 6 weeks old all the way past 3 years of age. (Contributed photo)Chambliss Center for Children is expanding into Red Bank to help residents in need. A new thrift store and early childhood education center are planned to open on Dayton Boulevard in July.
Gloria Miller, vice president of special projects with the local nonprofit, said they're aiming for a July 1 opening for the thrift store, and for the education center to open a few weeks after that. Chambliss provides education, clothing, child care and food for underprivileged families in Hamilton County.
The center will be housed in the former Girl Scout building at 1936 Dayton Blvd. with over 13,000 square feet of space. Initially, Miller said, Chambliss officials only planned to open the education center, but the additional space meant the thrift store was a possibility.
"It was really serendipitous," said Miller. "We knew of the serious need for early childhood education in Red Bank, and we were looking for a location for the thrift store, too."
Northside Neighborhood House, another local nonprofit and thrift store, is right down the street from where Chambliss' new ventures will be located, and Miller said they're looking forward to giving Red Bank residents even more help from local agencies. Miller said Red Bank officials have been more than welcoming and that Mayor John Roberts stopped by when Chambliss first purchased the building.
Chambliss is hosting several drop-off days at locations around Chattanooga on the Saturdays preceding the thrift store's opening to fill out the inventory. The center is asking for donations of clothes, toys, appliances, furniture and electronics, and the thrift store will carry the same manner of diverse home goods, clothes and furniture.
"Our sales are only as good as our donations," said Miller. "All the money comes back to help fund our programs."
The education center will provide day care and pre-kindergarten services to Red Bank residents using a sliding pay scale dependent on a family's income. Miller said the goal is to ensure as many children as possible enter kindergarten ready for a school environment. The facility will be able to serve 60 children at once.
"By the time a child leaves our program, they will have all the skills to be successful in kindergarten," said Miller. "Play is a child's work, and this will be where they can learn how to take turns and compromise, in addition to more tangible learning like their ABCs, colors and shapes."
For more information about Chambliss child care services, call 698-2456 or visit chamblisscenter.com.