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In 1999 Joyce Beekman saw the need to tap into the skills and talents of Club Nova members who were not already engaged in clubhouse work. She had gained business experience as the proprietor of a retail store and decided a thrift shop would be a perfect solution. It would not only provide opportunites to Club Nova members for meaningful work but it would also be a way to obtain inexpensive goods. She recruited the help of a handful of members and they went to work cleaning, organizing and collecting donations. They soon had the makings of a business and opened up for work and fund raising next door to the Club House where Club Nova Thrift Shop (CNTS) remains today.
After two years of being run exclusively by and for members, ideas began to form to open CNTS to the public. Billie Guthrie was brought in to spearhead the process. She sought grants for staff wages and the construction which was needed to bring the building up to code for public use. The grants for staff salaries came from the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, Cameron Charitable Trust and Triangle Community Foundation. Billie applied for an Economic Development Initiative grant through the department of Housing and Urban Development(HUD). Congressman David Price was instrumental in helping to secure the funds for the construction and startup expenses through his connections with the House Appropriations Committee. These efforts have made the thrift shop what it is today.
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