AURORA | After a 12-year run helping introduce newly arrived refugees to the American workforce, Safari Thrift Store, a second-hand home goods store in north Aurora’s Del Mar Circle, is closing up shop Feb. 10.
Originally opened near the intersection of E. 4th Ave. and Broadway in 2005, the shop hosted a vocational training program for refugees, which was coordinated by the African Community Center of Denver. The operation moved to its location in Aurora in 2012, according to Melissa Theesen, managing director at the ACC.
Theesen said a shift in funding for the training program changed the shop’s place within the ACC’s suite of refugee resettlement services several years ago. She said the decision to shutter the shop was purely meant to streamline the organization’s services .
“This is more of a strategic business decision and a shift in our social enterprise priorities,” Theesen said.
She affirmed that the closure is in no way correlated to President Donald Trump’s recent executive order, which jostled the nation’s refugee intake systems.
The closure coincides with the expiration of Safari Thrift’s lease on Peoria Street, Theesen said.
Workforce training programs similar to what was offered at Safari Thrift could be reinstated in the future if funding is once again reallocated, according to Theesen.
“It depends on what training funding we’re able to leverage,” she said.
A slew of services and programs, including those pertaining to job preparation, will still be available through the ACC.
The organization will still be accepting furniture — through channels separate from Safari Thrift — that will be donated to refugees’ homes, Theesen said.
Founded in 2001, the ACC plays a hand in the resettlement of approximately 580 refugees, asylees and secondaries each year, according to the organization’s website.