GREENFIELD — A bin overflowing with shoes sits at the southwest corner of Main and Franklin streets in Greenfield, and a team of people is eager to get them to new owners.
All sorts of footwear — from high heels and dress shoes to sneakers and steel-toed boots — is available to those who can’t afford them, thanks to the nonprofit known as Changing Footprints.
Greenfield resident Maureen Leisure launched the organization in 2004, after watching a televised news story about Afghans who were suffering and sometimes losing their feet because they had no shoes, after being forced into the mountains fleeing war with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
Since then, Changing Footprints has distributed more than 220,000 pairs of shoes throughout the state and beyond.
“We give them away locally and have shipped them off to places like the Appalachian Mountains and to Texas after the hurricanes,” said Stephen Jeffries, who helps oversee the local collection center in Greenfield, at the former site of Red Rooster Antiques.
The store owner is in the process of moving her antiques to a new location in Brown County, and has promised Changing Footprints use of the building once it’s vacant.
While they can only collect and store shoes there for now, Leisure is hoping to be able to open a free shoe store to the public there this spring or summer.
A number of churches, stores and other gathering places also serve as collection sites throughout the county.
Jeffries said it would likely surprise people to know the level of need in the community.
“We used to think it was only homeless and destitute people who were in need, but that’s not the case any more. With the economy like it is, there are so many more people in need,” he said. “I get calls two to three times a week from people needing shoes because their kids are in school and they can’t afford them.”
Jeffries and Leisure can both get emotional when talking about the people who come in seeking shoes.
“We have parents, grandparents and foster moms who need shoes for their kids, and we have people who get a job but can’t afford the proper footwear,” said Jeffries.
It was filling that need that motivated Leisure to launch Changing Footprints nearly 17 years ago.
The nonprofit distributed 4,000 pairs of shoes that first year. More than 60,000 pairs were distributed last year.
The effort started in Rushville, where Leisure lived at the time, and has since grown throughout the state. The warehouse there is a former glove factory the nonprofit purchased for $1.
“The Rushville location is really kind of a showplace. They’ve had shelves donated and a washer to wash shoes, and they keep it very organized. They open a couple times a week for people to come in and get whatever they need. That’s what we’re looking to do in Greenfield,” Leisure said.
Changing Footprints has its main warehouse on the north side of Indianapolis, as well as locations on the south side of Indianapolis and in northern Indiana.
There are five processing centers in all, a sign of the immense growth that has occurred since Leisure and her fellow volunteers were collecting and sorting shoes in their dining rooms, garages and out of the trunks of their cars.
Leisure recruited Jeffries as a volunteer while chatting at their high school reunion.
Jeffries was quickly hooked, and he joined the board of directors within a week. He started out storing locally donated shoes above his former business, The Acorn Tree in downtown Greenfield, but had to give that up after moving his business online.
He’s thrilled to have the storage bin at the Changing Footprints collection site in Greenfield, at 1001 W. Main St., where he’s hung new signage and painted the front door a bright blue to match the nonprofit’s logo.
The collection bin, which was donated by local businessman Wayne Addison, fills up to the top every week or two.
Jeffries can’t wait for the store to empty so Changing Footprints can open a no-cost foot store to those in need.
“When we have that whole building, we’ll be able to do some really great things,” said Leisure, who previously worked as a materials manager for Emerson. “Those in need of shoes will be able to come in and try on what they want and walk away without any paperwork or any questions asked.”
More volunteers and resources are needed to make that dream a reality, she said.
For now, volunteers will continue collecting, washing, sorting and distributing as many shoes as they can, with the hopes that each pair lands on the right feet.
The Greenfield location typically does a countywide back-to-school giveaway each summer, and takes part in the Day of Giving event at the county fairgrounds each Christmas Eve, but had both disrupted last year due to COVID.
Despite the setbacks, Changing Footprints works with all the Hancock County schools and other nonprofits to assure that anyone who needs shoes can get them.
“We try to keep the quality of the shoes we give away really high. Sometimes we’ll get donations of brand new shoes,” said Jeffries. “Our goal is to have a bit of variety that will cover a lot of different areas.”
Jeffries said the footwear ministry has a positive impact on the environment, as well as those receiving shoes.
“If we can’t use a pair of shoes, we’ll figure out a way to recycle them. We’re keeping shoes out of the landfills, and that’s always good,” he said.
Some shoes that aren’t good enough to be donated are given to Nike Grind, a Nike-driven recycling effort that grinds them down to repurpose them into playground mulch.
Jeffries said Monarch Beverage of Indianapolis buys their employees a pair of steel toed boots twice a year, and donates the used boots to Changing Footprints.
“One dream is to have a truck big enough to keep shoes in that we could drive to food pantries and schools or other nonprofits to give away shoes,” said Jeffries. “We’ve got a lot of goals, a lot of hopes and dreams.”
