Everyone Is Welcome
Phoenix Exchange exists to put usable things back into the hands of people who need them. That only works if everyone can actually walk through the door and be treated the same once they do.
This page is our public commitment on equity and inclusion. We have tried to write down what we actually do rather than what sounds good, and to be honest about what we have not managed yet.
What we commit to
No one has to qualify
Free goods are free to anyone who walks in. No application, no income check, no proof of need, no questions about your situation. We do not keep a list of who takes what, and we never will.
No one has to explain themselves
Paperwork and the embarrassment that comes with it are two of the biggest reasons people skip help they are entitled to. We removed both. Take what you need from the mutual aid area and go.
We are not affiliated with anyone
We are not tied to any corporation, religious organization, or government body. Nobody has to share our beliefs, or have any, to be served here the same as anyone else.
Children's clothing is always free
Every size from premature and newborn through children's XXL, plus shoes, blankets, bibs, socks, and hats. This does not change with our margins.
Anyone can give, not just us
We keep space in the store where neighbors leave their own mutual aid offerings for other neighbors. Helping here is not something only we get to do.
Our prices stay reachable
We price secondhand goods so people in our community can afford them, not at whatever the market would bear.
Treating people fairly
Nobody will be turned away, served differently, or made to feel unwelcome at Phoenix Exchange because of their race, color, national origin or ancestry, religion or lack of one, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, family or marital status, immigration status, housing status, veteran status, or income.
This applies to shopping here, to taking free goods, to donating, and to working with us. When we have employees, it will apply to hiring, pay, and how they are treated on the job.
Getting in the door
Accessibility is part of inclusion, so we treat it as part of this commitment rather than a separate matter.
This website. We review it against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, version 2.1, at level AA. Every image carries a text description, forms are labeled for screen readers, there is a link at the top of every page to skip past the navigation, and text meets the required contrast against its background. Our most recent review found a contrast failure in our own color scheme, and we fixed it. We have not had the site audited by an outside specialist, so if you hit something that does not work for you, we would genuinely like to know.
Our store. We are at 53 South Main Street in Pleasant Grove. The store is wheelchair accessible and we have an accessible restroom. If something about the space still makes it hard for you to get in or move around, tell us and we will work on it.
What we have not done yet
A commitment with no gaps listed is usually a commitment nobody has checked. Here is ours:
- Offering key information in Spanish, which we do not do yet.
- Setting a living wage floor before we hire our first employee, rather than figuring it out afterward.
- Tracking what we give away, so we can tell whether we are actually reaching the people we mean to reach.
We report on this in our annual benefit report, which we publish every year as a Utah benefit company. You will be able to see whether we actually moved on any of it.
If we get it wrong
Tell us. You can do it anonymously, and nobody will be refused service, refused free goods, or asked to leave for complaining. We cannot treat you differently for it even if we wanted to, because we do not record who receives what.