By Brett Fisher
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Photos by Brett Fisher. The front door of the remodeled FISH store. -
Visitors and supporters at the FISH grand reopening Thursday night. -
Remodeled facade of the FISH store at Long and N. Carson streets. -
FISH volunteers serve dinner to guests at Thursday’s grand reopening. -
Jim Peckham leads a tour group through the FISH premises Thursday evening. -
Thursday’s grand reopening included a barbecue dinner. -
A girl enjoys a soda float Thursday night during the FISH grand reopening.
Jim Peckham, executive director of Friends In Service Helping (FISH), excitedly led groups of visitors on tours of the organization’s property, located at 138 E. Long Street, Thursday night as part of a grand reopening celebration.
“When people think of FISH they think of our retail store,” he told a tour group Thursday night. “But we are much more than that. From our dining room to the Ross medical clinic and housing for both men and women, FISH is about helping the whole person.”
Thursday’s grand reopening and open house event marked the completion of a major remodel of the 10,000 square foot FISH retail store.
A brand-new facade fronts North Carson and Long Streets, the western design a nod to Carson City’s storied past, Peckham said.
“We had been kicking around doing something to the facade for 15 years before I was here,” Peckham told Carson Now in an earlier interview. “The board and I got together and said let’s do something that gives back to Carson City, that reinforces the historical nature that they’re looking for.”
Among the facade’s notable features is an Old West motif complete with false fronts, tin roofing eaves, as well as arches inspired by the city’s old railroad turntable and roundhouse.
Exterior facade work began in May 2015, Peckham said.
Remodel work was performed by volunteers, Peckham said, whose donations of time, resources and labor have been priceless gifts to the organization, which relies on the local community for 98 percent of its support.
Some interior remodeling has been done inside the store, too, he said, but this project has been slower going because FISH has been paying for these costs out of pocket.
“It’s basically just us,” Peckham said. “We’ve been working on this since 2009.”
Interior improvements have included replacing wall-to-wall carpet with finished concrete floors, electrical upgrades, new ceiling insulation, higher ceilings, and new exterior windows facing Carson Street.
There is still some roofing work outside and interior window finishes that need to be done, Peckham said.
The Carson City thrift store is FISH’s largest of three retail operations. Two others operate out of Mound House and Gardnerville, respectively.
Peckham said retail sales are crucial to funding many of FISH’s programs and providing needed supplies to clients.
“It’s really critical to our overall process in how we develop our clients into being more self-sufficient, and generates income so we can do a lot that we do,” he said. “The stores generate about a third of our income, and helps us to buy medicine, food, and allows us to give some products to those in significant need.”
About 30 percent of FISH’s revenue is generated from thrift store sales, FISH Operations Director Robin Reedy said, and even the smallest transaction makes a difference for somebody in need.
“For every $2.50 we get in, it’s a meal,” she said.
FISH has served the homeless, the poor and low-income individuals in Carson City, Lyon and Douglas counties since 1979.
The organization leased its current Carson City location for more than 20 years, Peckham said, before purchasing the property about ten years ago.
To learn more about FISH and its services, or ways to help and become involved, visit the organization’s web site here or visit it on Facebook here.
