There’s an ark in Fort Oglethorpe, but the only thing that walks two-by-two in this one is gently used shoes on the feet of a happy customer.

The ARK, which opened Nov. 2, is a community center set up by the Center for HOPE, a non-profit, faith-based counseling service located on the Hutcheson Medical Center campus.

At the ARK, donations are sold at low prices — a “boatload of bargains,” said director Lori Carter.

Shirts and pants are $2 each, and shoes are $3. The store also has everything from furni-ture to books to gifts for special occasions — at a range of affordable prices.

The items for sale are all clean, in good condition and seasonal.

Carter said she prefers the ARK to be called a community center because it offers more than the average thrift store. For example, it also has a consignment program, where the profit from selling an item is shared between the ARK and the owner. The center only ac-cept consignment items with a value of $50 or more.

Carter said she’d like to see more electronics, like laptops, and power tools available for purchase, and these would be the type of items to put in the consignment program.

The ARK also offers the building for local churches to utilize. In fact, Carter said the op-erating hours on Sunday are mostly for this use. She said churches can use the building to further their own community outreach programs.

“That’s the whole idea, so they (the churches) can have a place to talk to the community about what they’re doing,” Carter said.

The ARK also offers community workshops, including a Christmas ornament workshop where parents and children can make ornaments with a local artist.

They also plan to add a food pantry that the Center for HOPE will organize.

The community center is run by about ten volunteers.

The Center for HOPE, like any non-profit organizations, needed operating funds, and de-cided to create a community center.

Carter said everything the ARK has needed to start up has been provided either through donations or services.

“It has just been amazing,” Carter said.

She said the Center for HOPE offers counseling service to those who cannot serve them-selves, which is their slogan. The ARK provides them with the funds to continue this service while also providing lost-cost items to people who cannot afford retail prices.

One volunteer’s story

Marsha Stevens from Chattanooga is a “more-than-full volunteer,” said Carter.

Stevens found out about the ARK from counseling sessions at the Center for HOPE. She is a recovering addict and was also affected by the floods in September.

She and her husband lost most of their kitchen items and their bed sheets and towels when the flood water entered through the back door of their duplex.

They went the live in Flat Rock, Ala., with her stepson and his wife while fans were set up to dry out the carpets.

“Just a mess,” she said.

While living in Alabama, she came into town to drop her husband off at his work, and then she stayed at the ARK to help out.

“She was gone for two weeks after the flood and we missed her,” Carter said. Stevens was painting and organizing her home during that time.

“We survived,” Stevens said. “We got through it.”

“I love doing this, meeting other people and being able to give back,” Stevens said about working at the ARK. “It’s my way of giving back to what’s been given to me.”

Stevens said she knows the community needs something like a community center.

“We need more community outreach because a lot of people don’t know where to turn,” she said.

The ARK offers a “glimmer of hope” for these people, she said. Steven restocked what she had lost in the floods from items available at the ARK.

“I wouldn’t care if I ever became a paid employee,” she said.

The ARK

Location: Kmart shopping center in Fort Oglethorpe

Phone: 706-861-0172

Hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 1-6 p.m. Sunday

ARK’s upcoming events

Grand opening ceremony on Nov. 29 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. with ribbon-cutting at 2 p.m.

Christmas merchandise auction on Dec. 3 beginning at 6 p.m.

Christmas open house and Toys For Tots event on Dec. 5 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Free parent and child Christmas ornament workshop on Dec. 19

Christmas gift wrapping at The ARK on Dec. 20 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.