A Turner Valley teen has reached a milestone few her age can claim.
Seventeen-year-old Jessica McNutt opened her own second-hand clothing and consignment store Jessica’s Closet on Main Street in Turner Valley on Dec. 1 with the support of her mom, Foothills Special Needs Association for Parents and Siblings (SNAPS) and her community.
“It’s going good,” said Jessica last weekend as customers filed in and browsed through the store. “I’m just happy for customers coming. They come in and look around and buy stuff.”
Jessica doesn’t have a label for her condition.
Lori McNutt said her daughter struggles with cognitive, developmental and social delays.
“She doesn’t understand social cues and double-edged meanings,” explained Lori as Jessica straightened up items around her store. “She’s unable to keep up with her peers academically and socially.”
Jessica came into Lori’s care as a foster child 10 years ago and in 2009 Lori adopted the petite preteen.
The McNutt family moved to Turner Valley two years ago after camping at Hells Half Acre, visible from the front window of Jessica’s Closet, when Lori immediately fell in love with the community.
The family was living in Medicine Hat at the time.
“We wanted to be in a community where they were safe,” she said, referring to all of her children. “There’s nothing better than a community raising kids.”
While Turner Valley boasts a small-town feel, Lori realized there weren’t a lot of opportunities for people with Jessica’s needs in such a small community and got in touch with SNAPS.
Jessica attended Oilfields High School in Black Diamond, but she wasn’t blossoming at the level her peers were.
“She was taking the same thing every year,” Lori said. “We started looking for opportunities and ideas and things to do. We wanted her to have a project.”
Through SNAPS’ Having Inclusive Rewarding Employment (HIRE) program, Jessica got the training needed in September and October to operate her own business.
The program is a career and employment service for people with barriers to gaining employment.
It offers classes that teach such skills as resume writing, how to be a good employee, personal development, career decision making and how to find work.
“People always talked over Jessica’s head and the HIRE program talked to her as a person,” said Lori. “They taught her to be more independent and make decisions on her own.”
The program includes classroom lessons, job shadowing and the job application process.
Jessica job shadowed at various thrift stores in High River before opening the doors of her own second-hand clothing and consignment store last week.
“Her self esteem has really grown,” said Lori. “She’s just blossomed. She is more confident when she meets people. Now she will go around and mingle with people.”
While everyone in the McNutt family plays a role in running the store, Jessica is taking the lead, with the help of job coach Debbie Brink who teaches her the skills she needs to do the job, said Lori.
“She’s having a blast with it,” Lori said. “She’s got everything colour coordinated. She comes in first thing in the morning and sweeps the floor and vacuums the rugs.”
Alise Kuipers, project coordinator for HIRE, said the program is about getting students transitioned into the workforce once they’ve completed school.
“We start when they’re young so families can think about the future and not be afraid of the unknown,” she said. “It takes the fear from the future when there is a plan in place.”
Each morning from Wednesday to Sunday before Jessica unlocks the door at 9 a.m. she makes sure everything is clean and in place – that’s after she’s fed the family dog and cat.
Once the door is open, Jessica spends the day accepting consignment items and donations for her business, organizing the merchandise and helping customers find the products they are looking for.
“If they need clothes, if they are coming here and have nothing, they can come in here and buy stuff,” said Jessica. “They bring lots of clothes and I put them on hangers. It’s a lot of work to get this done.”
Jessica is accepting consignment items and clothing donations for her store.
Jessica’s Closet also offers scrapbooking and craft sessions for people of all abilities and invites anyone who is interested or who wants to job shadow her to inquire within.
