Iqaluit’s thrift store gets new executive director with goals for growth

The new executive director of Iqaluit’s thrift store says she’s learning the ropes but is already exploring possibilities for bolstering her team.

Taya Tootoo officially started her new role at the Piviniit thrift store on Feb. 23.

There’s been a bit of a learning curve, she said, but her immediate plan is to find a way to deal with the high level of donations the store receives. Volunteers can’t keep up with the volume, she said, and part-time staff could alleviate some that struggle.

The store, owned by the non-profit Piviniit Society, is run by volunteers, said board chair Tania Scott in an email to Nunatsiaq News. All proceeds from the store are used for “keeping the lights and heating on.”

On occasion, extra funds are donated to other charities and non-profits like the Rotary Club’s Christmas hampers program.

Piviniit was able to hire Tootoo, its first paid employee, with federal money.

“We have recently received funding from [the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency],” Scott said, adding one of Tootoo’s responsibilities will be to find a better, more permanent location for the store.

Piviniit moved to its current location, at Building 778 on Fred Coman Drive, in 2021. It was not meant to be a permanent home because the building’s owners planned to eventually demolish it. The space is also not large enough to accommodate big items like furniture or appliances.

Tootoo said she envisions a new location with warehouse space and a storefront.

She also wants to expand existing programs and said she believes paid staff could help with that too.

For example, the thrift store, in partnership with the RCMP and the Department of Family Services, runs a program to ship items to other communities in Nunavut at no cost to recipients. Part-time staff would enable the store to get more items out to people in need, she said.

Tootoo has years of experience working in the social services sector.

She worked several years for the Department of Education until she took a job as manager at Qupanuaq, an organization responsible for co-ordinating programming funded by the Inuit Child First Initiative.

Though she intends to bring the things she has learned over the course of her career to her new role, Tootoo said the most important lessons she learned are from her mother.

Her mom has rheumatoid arthritis, she said, and growing up the family survived on disability income which made things difficult.

Her mother, however, always tried to give back to the community, regardless of her circumstances, Tootoo said.

“My mom has taught me you give what you can regardless of what you have,” she said.

Tootoo said she sees the thrift store as more than a location to buy affordable, gently used items, but also as a social service.

“Family Services, RCMP, mental health and wellness and homelessness are areas that … I’d like to engage and see what funding we could do to provide better for families and clients on income support or struggling with homelessness,” Tootoo said.