Have you heard about our second-hand shop? It’s a unique concept here in India, though a tried and true one in the West. We call ours Rainbow Resale, and we collect used clothing, books and household items (including, eventually, furniture and appliances) and sell it all at rock-bottom prices. Our customers include daily wage laborers and domestic workers and the response has been phenomenal. So much so that we recently made the decision to shift operations from a corner in Latika Vihar, where we were open only one day a week, to a proper shop front in Sethi Market, near Vasant Vihar. We are renting a space from Rajender Bansal, a PSI staffperson who is giving us a good price, and we will now be open six days a week.

The concept is a new one in India, but we have taken it one step further by staffing it with the trainees from CVT – all young adults with mental disability. Along with their parents and one hired staff person, Rainbow Resale is their project. Go to the CVT on any given day and you’ll find the trainees busy repairing torn garments, stitching buttons on shirts, ironing and folding. At another table, they are making the bags they place customers’ purchases in. It’s a beehive and an assembly line and everyone is motivated and excited about the newest Foundation project.

Manisha and Monica sorting clothes for Rainbow

Bag-Making Assembly Line!

We need donations of all sorts (only high quality stuff please!) and we would love it if you dropped in to shop yourself. Along with all the second-hand bargains, we also stock a full range of Asha Kiran products and homemade pickles and jams.