Circle of Hope Veterans 1st Thrift Store
Providing Light in the Darkness
story by JENNIFER BROWN-CARPENTER photos by SUSAN DELOACH
In a town like Beaufort, it can be easy to get lost in the magic. Tall, ancient oak trees create mossy wonderlands. The sound of seagulls mix with the sound of church bells chiming. Children squeal and laugh as they run away from the waves that come crashing onto the shore. Antebellum homes stand, holding their memories tight in the form of beautiful wraparound porches and creaking wood floors.
Even amidst all the magic, there can be lack and hardship. The two, beauty and suffering, aren’t mutually exclusive. They almost always intermingle and intertwine. Hopefully, if possible, eventually the light will overwhelm the darkness and beauty will be more visible than suffering. That will most definitely be true if Rev. John C. Dortch gets his way.
John Dortch is larger than life. His story is almost unbelievable, making you think he might be pulling a fast one on you when he begins to share all the things he has experienced in his lifetime. But, the saying just might be true, that truth is really stranger than fiction.
John was born and raised here in Beaufort to devout Christian parents. From a young age, he has been a hard worker, starting out as a shoeshiner at just 4 years old at his father’s shoe shop. In junior high and high school, he worked at Parris Island shining shoes. He was captain of the football and basketball teams in high school. He had planned to join the Marine Corps when he graduated high school, but his mother told him he was going to college. He went to Howard University and got involved in the Army ROTC program and became the top cadet and brigade commander. He received a Regular Army commission when he graduated from college and went to Fort Benning. He volunteered for Vietnam, where he was injured while saving the life of a man under his command and was medically retired.
He went back to Washington, DC, where he attended college and began working for New York Life Insurance Company and became the top salesman in the entire metropolitan area.
John is a self-proclaimed dreamer and had a vision of owning his own business. He put together a team, some with PhDs and MBAs. He trained this team of 20 young men and women to get their security license to sell stocks and bonds in order to raise revenue to invest in the community. He made corporate commitments based on an anticipated level of revenue … but the revenue wasn’t forthcoming. They were turned down by investment bankers. Things got bad, to the point where John had to make a decision. “I either had to declare corporate bankruptcy or do something foolish.”
John knew that these young, fledgling professional men and women had invested in his enterprise because they trusted him. He didn’t want to see them lose their money. But “there’s no right reason to do the wrong thing,” John says. At the time he owned a nightclub. He recruited five men to start robbing banks. One of the men he recruited eventually left the team and another man joined the team to take his place … but this man was an undercover FBI informant. “Things went awry, and I ended up spending 15 years in a maximum-security penitentiary.”
During that time, John repented and returned to the faith. He took responsibility for his actions. He got involved in the chapel program and teaching bible studies. Because of his business experience, he was given a job in the business office, like a civilian accountant. He was good at his job and found favor with everyone who was in authority over him. He took college credits to keep his mind alert and was able to send his daughter to private school with the money he made.
When John got out of prison and started job hunting, he was determined not to build his life on a lie. He was always open about his time in prison. He got a job at Covenant Baptist Church in Washington, DC. He went to law school and passed the bar exam in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and West Virginia.
John eventually came back home to Beaufort and got involved at First African Baptist Church. He became an ordained deacon, and then a minister and a pastor. But he knew God hadn’t called him to be a traditional pastor. He was supposed to be out in the community, helping the broken and the hurting, and the homeless. He resigned from the church he was pastoring and started Circle of Hope Ministries.
The volunteers of Circle of Hope are not paid in dollars and cents. They receive their marching orders from Matthew 25:40, where Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” We serve God by serving one another. That is John’s heart and what motivates him. John started out distributing food and clothes to the homeless in our community, but he knew that he had to find a place that could provide shelter for them. They were able to find a property on Boundary Street that now serves as transitional housing for homeless veterans: Circle of Hope Hospitality House.
John and Circle of Hope not only provide homeless veterans with a place to stay, but they also help them find a permanent residence. On the evening of January 18, 2020, Rev. John was presented with the prestigious Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award by the Beaufort County Ministerial Alliance, “in recognition of his exceptional and faithful leadership provided in addressing an expansive need for service in Beaufort County.”
The most recent venture that John has taken on is the Veterans 1st Thrift Store. Roz Dixon is the one who originally presented the idea. Gordon and Pat Mabie are the co-managers. Gordon is a retired Army officer and a Vietnam veteran just like John. He and Pat lived in Boseman, Montana, before moving to Beaufort to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren. Gordon and Pat love to volunteer. Gordon worked in insurance for 24 years, but he received his Army pension, didn’t need to work for money, and decided to start using his time to give back and contribute to the community. He and Pat managed the Parish Church of St. Helena’s Treasure House for 3 years.
The mission of the thrift store is two-fold: (1) to provide free furniture and household goods for veterans, who are transitioning from homelessness to establish their own residence and (2) to raise revenue from sales to the public to help finance the construction of the Hope Village Inn campus, a residential community for homeless veterans and their families. The campus will consist of residential units, a recreational park, and a community center.
The thrift store is located at 612 Robert Smalls Parkway, #D, right across from Anderson Funeral Home. They have furniture, household goods (like dishes, pots, and pans), paintings, and other knickknacks. They are receiving more donations than they can handle. Excess items are given to the Help of Beaufort, CAPA, or the Treasure House.
Right now, the Veterans 1st Thrift Store is looking for volunteers. They do most of their own pickup and delivery. They need help with loading and unloading merchandise, and the retail-type duties: running the register, helping customers make decisions, and showing them anything new that has come in, etc.
If you’re interested in volunteering, you can reach out to Gordon and he’ll be happy to get you involved. You can call him at 406-579-4901. At the very least, stop by the thrift store and buy something. Not only will you leave with something new for your home, you’ll be making a large and lasting impact on our community. You’ll be like Rev. John, Gordon, Pat, and Roz — shining just a little more light on the darkness. As Roz says, “God’s on our side, so it’ll work.”
