An old Family Dollar in the Lower Ninth Ward is now a free store — and a roller skating rink

The useful part

Twice a week people line up outside, and when the doors open, they rush in to find racks full of clothing and shelves piled high with household goods, toys, food, books — even packs of birth control. Mattresses and furniture line the walls and there are bins full of purses and shoes. They're trying on boots and winter wear even though it's mid-August and pushing 100 degrees.

How it works

• Catie Dull/NPR hide caption toggle caption Catie Dull/NPR Bingler, who is 42-years-old, has a history degree and used to work as a server and bartender in fine dining restaurants.
• Catie Dull/NPR hide caption toggle caption Catie Dull/NPR Angela, 8, says she likes the free store "a lot." She's picked out some animal-print hair clips for school, which she shows to her sister.
• She shows off a small, furry vest and explains, "My stepmom is a babysitter.
• "We do free STI testing," says Bingler, as well as "some food handouts and some basic medical care." Plus art classes, free punk shows and even roller skating.
• "Somehow the ground is just the perfect, polished concrete for it," Bingler says.

What to take from it

"The problem is, we're not used to cold weather," says Lane, "so when it gets cold, you're naked." In this heat, several industrial fans cool the space: there's no air conditioning in the 9,000 square foot building. "They want nice things, too, because they deserve nice things, too," he adds. Because, as he puts it, the next storm is coming.

Example or evidence

• "They see the graffiti on the outside of the building and it's a misconception.
• It took her a year and a half to rebuild, but she doesn't think the neighborhood ever fully recovered.
• "We had so many objects and things people had donated." The parking lot outside the abandoned Family Dollar was already being used in a similar way, but Bingler made a deal with the owner of the property to...
• I say 'Go in, there's blessings in there, go in.'" Inside, it's a treasure trove.

Details worth keeping

Inside, it's a treasure trove — clothing, home goods, toys and books. On one corner, an old Family Dollar store stands covered in graffiti. "People who are struggling don't just want the bare necessities," says Dan Bingler, founder of the Greater New Orleans Caring Collective, a local mutual-aid organization that runs the free store.

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