Anne Browning is feeling pretty positive about how everything just seemed to come together.
Last Wednesday Browning was working behind the register at Miracles Happen, a new thrift store off of Cottonwood’s Main Street.
In fact, the store has only been open for a little over three weeks.
Browning said she drew inspiration from what it says on a brightly-colored mural painted on the side of the building, one that predates the thrift shop.
“When people come together, miracles happen,” Browning said.
The store keeps its shelves stocked with donations and a dedicated effort to scour the state for interesting items at events like estate sales.
The store’s proceeds go to help support Steps to Recovery Homes, a nonprofit Browning and her husband two years ago.
The organization provides facilities for men and women to live in while they struggle with overcoming addiction.
It can be a difficult thing to grapple with.
Browning knows this well. She went through the same struggle more than two decades ago but has stayed on the path ever since.
Browning said that the shop also hires people in the program to work there if they need to start getting on their own path back to becoming a productive member of society.
That help extends to a program where some of the money the members put into savings is matched, giving them a bit of a head start when they finish.
“The idea is that we focus on the people,” Browning said.
There was a lot of focus on programs like this in the Prescott area, Browning said, but she recognized a need for something like this on this side of the mountain.
The program also received a $10,000 grant from the city of Cottonwood, Browning said.
To read the full story, see the Wednesday, July 8, edition of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
