Hong Kong homeless charity ImpactHK opens second-hand clothing store

As well as raising revenue for charity, employing street sleepers and recycling clothing that would otherwise have ended up in landfill, 1ofaKind doubles as a community centre

Reading Time:2 minutes

Second-hand clothing on sale at 1ofakind, ImpactHK's new store in Jordan. Photo: SCMP / Edmond So

Published: 3:00pm, 22 May 2020Updated: 3:00pm, 22 May 2020

Neon signs, clothing racks fashioned out of ladders, hand-painted murals: welcome to 1ofaKind, Hong Kong’s new second-hand clothing shop, which is on a mission to help the city’s street sleepers.

“The world can be a depressing place these days,” says Jeff Rotmeyer, the Canadian founder and chief executive of ImpactHK, the non-governmental organisation that launched the shop this month. “It’s our goal to create some hope for the future.”

Located in Jordan, 1ofaKind not only employs homeless people and gives all proceeds to charity, it also doubles as a community centre.

Hong Kong had 1,127 registered street sleepers in 2018, according to government data. Registered as a charity in 2017, ImpactHKoffers temporary shelter, necessities and even laundry services to those on the streets through initiatives such as its regular “Kindness Walks”.

ImpactHK merchandise at the shop. Photo: SCMP / Edmond So

Its latest project was conceived last year as a way to offer gainful employment to those in need, Rotmeyer says. It also makes use of clothes that would otherwise be tossed into landfills: Hong Kong produced about 340 million tonnes of textile waste a day in 2016, according to the Environmental Protection Department.