The Ann Arbor Thrift Shop was one of several non-profits that was stolen from in the last year.
Daniel Brenner I AnnArbor.com
"It was a big sale weekend for us," said Maggie Porter, H4H development director. "We had more [money] than we usually make."
By Sunday night, the store had $2,000 in its cash box, but when employees came in Monday morning, the store's office door was open and the cash box was gone.
Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office determined that someone hid inside the store, waited for the employees to leave and then broke into the office, making off with the money from the weekend's extra sales.
Porter said the money would have helped fund renovations and repairs to houses in the community.
"It’s a hard reality for me to think about, that there are people out there whose resources are so small that they do break into nonprofits and see that as a viable place to make money," Porter said. "It's unfortunate. All the money we raise and that our store makes goes back into the community. We’re working hard to help people."
There were several reports of thefts from non-profit organizations in the last year. The Ann Arbor Art Center, House by the Side of the Road, the Ann Arbor Thrift Shop and the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living all reported thefts of some kind in the last year.
"As a nonprofit, you just don’t think that’s going to be a big concern," said Tom Hoatlin, the vice president of development for the Center for Independent Living. "You’re so used to people giving to you and wanting to help out."
The thefts from the art center, the thrift shop, and House by the Side of the Road, all occurred within a month of each other, between Dec. 7, 2012 and Jan. 6 of this year. In each case, a thief broke into the building through a window.
"They made a mess with the glass," said Mary Breakey, a volunteer at the thrift shop. "They really went after the bottom corner and smashed through there and reached their hand in to open it up."
Unlike the H4H ReStore theft, the other thieves made off with petty cash, including $400 from the art center and less than $300 from the thrift shop. From House by the Side of the Road, they got what the organization's treasurer, Cathy Freeman, called "loose change."
"These are places that take donations," said Lt. Renee Bush of the Ann Arbor Police Department. "They don’t have large amounts of cash."
The Center for Independent Living was not so fortunate. Last March, a thief drove off with a trailer full of outdoor recreational equipment specialized for people with disabilities, setting the center back about $35,000.
"We basically found out that our whole summer sports and rec program was stolen," Hoatlin said. "It’s a complete blow that somebody would take a trailer full of highly-specialized equipment, strictly for people with disabilities."
No arrests have been made in connection to the four incidents, which fell under the jurisdiction of Ann Arbor Police Department.
Bush said the trailer stolen from the Center for Independent Living was recovered on Jan. 31 in Charlotte, North Carolina, but its contents were missing. Police are coordinating efforts with authorities from Charlotte.
The Sheriff's office could not be reached to give comment about the H4H ReStore theft, but Porter said she was unaware of any arrests.
Despite the similarities between the three cases involving window break-ins, police have not found any reason to believe they were connected.
"At this time, we don't have any reason to unequivocally say that they're related," said Lt. Robert Pfannes of the Ann Arbor Police Department.
Despite the heavy losses some of the organizations experienced, several of them found a silver lining in their ordeals.
"The only way that It changed our opinion of the community was the outpouring of support once people found out what happened," Hoatlin said.
Through insurance and contributions from community members and businesses such as Brewed Awakenings and the South Side Business Association, the Center for Independent Living was financially able to fully recover.
"The community really stepped up without us really asking," Hoatlin said. "We started receiving donations."
The H4H ReStore also saw an increase in donations as well as verbal support from the community, and the thrift shop was able to open as scheduled on Monday due to the clean-up efforts of volunteers.
"Here we suffer this break-in and we have eight board members who show up on a Sunday and say, 'what can we do?'," Breakey said.
Moving forward from these incidents, some of the organizations have implemented new security measures.
"We really saw it as a wake-up call," Porter said. "We took note. We really have tightened our security. We’ve installed surveillance cameras."
Porter said new ReStore policies also mandate that two employees be in the shop during business hours and that employees double-check the store is empty before closing for the night.
"It’s good practice and we’re happy to do it, but it does mean taking a little bit of our energy from our mission to focus on that," she said.
The thrift shop has implemented a strict policy that no cash be left in the shop overnight, utilizing a courier service to bring cash to the shop when it opens and take it back to the bank at closing.
"We got a high-tech window replacement and we hope that's going to be effective to deter future attempts to break-in," Breakey said.
The Center for Independent Living already had surveillance of its trailer and locks on the trailer's hitch, but the organization has purchased extra locks to increase security.
But even with the increases in security, peace of mind has yet to be completely restored after the break-ins.
"We still constantly worry about it," Hoatlin said "Is it going to happen again?"
Bush said the organizations' previous security measures weren't inadequate. In fact, she said they mostly did everything right.
"I think sometimes people are so determined to get into places or their need is so great because they need money or whatever, that they seek out these places that help people," she said. "...It’s unfortunate that these things happen and that these individuals can’t just ask for help."