Tucked back in a quiet corner of downtown Apex, beside Holland Jewelers, is a small store making a global impact. When you walk into A Kid’s LIFE boutique, you are immediately greeted with bright colors, beautiful clothes and calming aromas. Not to mention the welcoming smile of founder Lynn Gulley and her associate, Cindy.
Lynn opened A Kid’s LIFE just before Thanksgiving in 2018 with one goal: to help others. You see, A Kid’s LIFE isn’t just your ordinary boutique, it is a platform to raise awareness and funding for a cause that has been near and dear to Lynn’s heart for over 20 years.
In the late 1990’s, Lynn’s family, including her four children, traveled to Latvia. There they attended and helped with a Bible camp whose attendees were some of the country’s most vulnerable: its orphans. As one of the poorest countries in the European Union, 95% of Latvia’s orphans are considered social orphans, meaning a child has no adults looking after them, even though one or more of their parents are alive. While there, Lynn was embracing these children but she noticed something about how she was doing it. “When you hug a child, you truly love, you bury your face in the crook of their neck and embrace them with all you have. I noticed that when I would hug them that I would lean back slightly so I wouldn’t catch lice. This bothered me, because I felt that I was unready to truly love an orphan,” she said. It bothered her so much in fact, that Lynn spent the next 3 days in her room praying and reflecting. “It just broke me,” she said. Then, on that third day she felt that she was able to truly embrace these children in the way they deserved, and in a way that showed them the unconditional love that they were lacking. “These orphans gave me the opportunity to learn how to love in a new way. They truly left an impression on my heart,” she said.
When she was saying her goodbyes to the children she had grown to love, she told one young girl, thru an interpreter, “You will always have my heart.” “She responded by saying, ‘I don’t need your heart, I need you.’” That was all it took for Lynn, and from that moment on she knew what she had to do. “I went back six weeks later, just to prove to these children that I wouldn’t forget them,” she said. And 20 years later she still hasn’t.
We all see the commercials that show some of the world’s most vulnerable children, looking for help and struggling to survive. What we don’t see is what happens to these children who aren’t adopted, when they age out of the orphanage system. In Latvia, when an orphan ages out of the system, the government sets them up in a one or two room flat in asocial building that may house ex-prisoners and addicts. They may or may not have the proper facilities they need, like a bathroom, and are forced to bathe in a bucket in the middle of the room. Most are not educated beyond the 7th to 9th grade. Alcoholism and addiction are commonplace, and hopelessness and depression are unwelcome residents.
Lynn started a non-profit organization in 2018. The goal of this organization is to provide those that are aging out of the orphanage system with the resources they need, to bring life-changing support, both developmentally and emotionally, to survive and succeed. But those that receive help have to put the work in too. “I tell them that I will give them 100% as long as they give me 100%. The day they stop is the day I stop,” she said.
Although she is doing extraordinary work, Lynn doesn’t consider herself anything but ordinary. But as she said, “Ordinary people can do extraordinary things.” And Lynn doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon, but she can’t do it alone. “I opened the store as a platform to talk locally about what is going on globally.” Lynn’s store is her non-profit. All of the proceeds, after expenses, go to helping her “kids” and beyond that are a world away.
Those that visit her store go in looking to buy something for their own child or a child they know and love, but they leave knowing that their purchase has helped another child or young adult in a place they will likely never visit, in a land that is thousands of miles away in every sense possible. A Kid’s LIFE carries children’s clothes, toys and accessories that are washed and ironed by Lynn and Cindy, and are cared for until they find a new home. Lynn also carries women’s and maternity clothes and accessories.
Go in, look around and know that you are making a difference. A difference that will be felt long after your child outgrows that perfect outfit, or grows tired of the toy they just had to have. Go in as a stranger and leave as a friend. Go in to shop, stay to listen. Listen to the stories of those Lynn has helped, and continues to help. Listen to the plans for the future. Listen to your own heart gain a love you never knew existed.
