Windfall Thrift Store gives $5,000 to Liberty Park Community Development Center

For more than 60 years, a small thrift store in the heart of Spokane’s Perry District has been investing in the community.

On Dec. 19, the Windfall Thrift Store, a ministry of the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, awarded $5,000 to the Liberty Park Community Development Center to fund a program for teens.

A windfall often refers to a piece of unexpected good fortune, and the store is aptly named.

Windfall history

In the early 1950s, a group from Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist proposed opening a thrift store.

“Initially, their goal was to use the funds to furnish Jewett House (the great hall),” said Windfall manager Linda Finney. “But it’s always been an outreach and has always been in the Perry District.”

In April 1961, the church leased the iconic windmill building on South Perry Street and opened the store.

Five years later, they relocated to their current location (the former Bowles Hardware Store). Eventually, the building was purchased by St. John’s Cathedral.

Operated by volunteers, with no overhead costs other than supplies, all funds raised at the Windfall support projects at the Cathedral and local nonprofits.

The store

Filled with clothing, collectibles, books and toys, the shop attracts thrift store shoppers from all over town as well as those who live in the neighborhood.

“A gentleman came in and said, ‘I have a job interview. If I clean your windows, will you give me a nice pair of pants and a shirt?’ ” Finney recalled.

She said Windfall often provides a needed point of connection.

“We had a blind special education student who came in on Fridays with his teacher to learn how to shop. He always found something that made noise! We got so fond of him.”

Though Finney had volunteered at the thrift store for several years, she stepped in to run it last year when longtime manager Pat Williams was diagnosed with ALS.

Investing in community

Little overhead means low prices, but the sales add up, and so does their giving.

“We give vouchers to Odyssey Youth Movement and to Grant Elementary students,” Finney said. “We also support Pride in Perry.”

And of course, some funds go to Cathedral projects.

“We just bought two water fountains – the kind you can use to refill water bottles,” she said. “And they’re wheelchair accessible.”

In addition, this summer, they hired a professional landscaping firm to begin refurbishing the Dean’s Garden.

“It’s an English country garden, but it didn’t come with an English country gardener!”

Liberty Park Community Development Center

At a meeting this fall, Windfall volunteers expressed their desire to get even more involved in the Perry neighborhood.

Through a woman hired to clean the store, they learned about the needs at Liberty Park Community Development Center. The Center is a mission of the Presbytery of the Inland Northwest. It serves as a neighborhood hub, connecting people of all ages to opportunities for spiritual, educational, and social growth.

Finney contacted Julie Cordero, director of Community Life and Empowerment at the Center.

“Liberty Park Community and Development Center was built on the campus of the Liberty Park Terrace apartments in the ‘70s,” said Cordero. “Proclaim Liberty, a nonprofit, owns the property.”

The campus houses an ECAP preschool, as well as the community center, which provides a food and clothing bank and an after-school program for elementary school kids.

Cordero was hired in 2023 and reopened the after-school program that had been closed during COVID-19.

“Teens knocked on the door and said, ‘What about us?’ ” she recalled.

So, she began hosting a weekly after-school program for teens. Cordero hired college students to help out and used the leftover food from the younger kids program to feed the hungry teens.

“Teens don’t need a babysitter, but they do need a place to connect and decompress,” Cordero said. “I started a teen employment program to teach them how to apply for jobs and fill out time cards, etc.”

She also wanted to give the kids opportunities many teens take for granted – a trip to Manito Park, an activity at Corbin Arts Center, or a chance to ice skate in Riverfront Park.

And she planned to buy food and teach the kids to make simple meals, like tacos.

But funding cuts and rising costs in 2025 meant the program could only operate every other week.

She told the kids she’d look for a way to return to their weekly program.

“It never occurred to the teens that it wouldn’t happen,” she said.

Then Linda Finney called.

The gift

Finney believed providing funds for the teen program at Liberty Park Community Development Center aligned perfectly with the purpose of the Windfall Thrift Store.

“The Service League at the Cathedral, which oversees the funds raised by the store, agreed,” she said.

On Dec. 19, Cordero was presented with a check for $5,000. The gift was made in honor of Windfall’s late manager, Pat Williams.

“It was a very moving thing,” Finney said. “I was able to call Pat and tell her about it before she passed away.”

Cordero was delighted by their generosity.

“We are so grateful to Windfall,” she said. “This gift means we can have a teen program and be able to take kids off campus and bring in inspiring speakers. It’s a chance for them to see a world beyond them – it’s a chance to just be teens.”

This story was written in partnership with FāVS News, a nonprofit newsroom covering faith and values in the Inland Northwest.