Giving freely

Woman offers aid to needy, not ‘freeloaders’

“It’s very simple: I am totally against people sitting around sponging off of other people and not trying to help themselves.”

Barbara Klingshirn

Freely ... Freely owner

ELYRIA, Ohio (AP) — Come walk with Barbara Klingshirn on a tour of her temporary Elyria warehouse. Here, she and fellow volunteers collect used furniture, clothes and housewares and redistribute them to needy folks.

The name of their nonprofit is Freely ... Freely, a verse lifted from Matthew’s gospel: “Freely you have received, freely give.”

Klingshirn considers herself a Christian who is “walking the walk.” She once worked in interior design and enjoys surprising families selecting furniture with extra gifts of framed art and floral centerpieces. Female clients can select a pretty toiletry bag and fill it up with donated fragrances and lotions. All for free.

But there is a catch.

“This is not for freeloaders,” Klingshirn explains.

Items are given only to people she classifies as “working poor,” meaning they’re employed or at least looking for work. She also serves struggling retirees and spouses of active military personnel.

But Klingshirn wastes no time on people she deems to be deadbeats.

“Are you working?” she’ll ask folks calling for assistance.

Oh, not working? Klingshirn probes to learn more. If they’ve applied for jobs recently, she’ll open her doors to them. But if they’re getting food stamps or other government aid, her response is firm: “I’m sorry, this is not the agency for you. You’re already getting your share.”

“It’s very simple: I am totally against people sitting around sponging off of other people and not trying to help themselves,” says Klingshirn. “It infuriates me. Who do you think you are that I should pay your way through life?”

She estimates that the warehouse has served more than 200 people since opening in January. She guesses another 200 have been turned away.

A tight job market is no excuse. She advises, “Yes, it’s bad. Try harder.”

Klingshirn’s outspoken way of explaining her mission has attracted support from many, including two families who pitched in money to fund the operation.

“She’s on the right track,” said Jim Combs of Avon Lake, who donated clothes and housewares. “People should help themselves first and rely on others second.”

People who run organizations that help the needy without restrictions have nothing negative to say.

“I have no problem with what she’s doing. There’s too many that just want a handout,” said Joan Groening, volunteer coordinator for Advent Lutheran Church of Solon, which also collects used furniture but lets social-service agencies decide who gets the items.

Carol Fredrich, executive director of Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry, which serves homeless people, said that just as she doesn’t believe in judging people’s worthiness to receive help, she refuses to judge Klingshirn’s philosophy.

“I respect that she has her values and convictions,” Fredrich said.

Klingshirn’s hard-line views stem from her childhood. She is one of eight children reared in a “no-bedroom cottage” in Avon Lake by a stay-at-home mom and an office-worker dad. “We were dirt-poor,” she said. “We learned to get out and work.”

Now 60, she has worked at various jobs, mostly in sales and marketing. “As I grew older, I became fortunate and very blessed with where I am in life. God spoke to my heart one day and said, ‘It’s time to give back.’”

On Saturdays, her husband, Tom, and other volunteers drive a rented truck to pick up donations. To keep costs down, they accept donated items from just four cities — Avon, Avon Lake, Bay Village and Westlake.

Clients living in the same four communities have first dibs on what’s in the warehouse.

Klingshirn takes a businesslike tone when determining a client’s eligibility but concedes she did lose it recently when a woman poured out her life story during a late-night call. “The more she talked, the more I thought, ‘Lady, what’s wrong with you?’”

Finally, Klingshirn let loose. She quizzed the woman: Why are you living in a house that’s beyond your means? Why did you buy your daughter a car when you couldn’t afford it?

The call lasted 90 minutes, and the two eventually tired of talking. But “she called back the next morning and said, ‘I really needed to hear that,’” Klingshirn said.

For those who make the cut, a visit to Freely ... Freely is like a spree inside a showroom. Located inside donated space until a permanent home is found, the warehouse features clothes, shoes, baby items, kitchenware and other items neatly organized on racks. “I want nice stuff, and I’m not afraid to tell people. The people we’re dealing with are trying to maintain their dignity.”

“Don’t dump your garbage on me,” Klingshirn says with a cackle.

It’s a hard-boiled truism, just like her primary rule: “No lazy-butts allowed.”