About ZABS Place

ZABS Place is a non-profit thrift boutique in Matthews, NC, serving as a thriving hub for young adults with special needs talents in the Charlotte area. We offer individualized training to empower these individuals, equipping them with valuable job and life skills to become key contributors to society.

Through our engaging community involvement initiatives, we actively support and encourage our Special Talent to achieve their career goals. As a go-to thrift boutique in the Charlotte area, ZABS Place provides a unique shopping experience and offers an inclusive environment where abilities are recognized, potential is found, and everyone is welcome.

 

Our Mission

To train young adults with special needs to harness their talents and support their transition to rewarding careers; realizing their dreams of leading meaningful lives.

Our Vision

A community that recognizes abilities and values everyone and everything. We are all different, on purpose.

 

Our Core Values

is where others stop and we start.

Approach every situation as an opportunity.

Believe dreams do come true.

See potential in everyone and everything.

 

That’s it! It’s not complicated but it’s very different than what you’ll find “out there”. We consider it just one of the many ways ZABS Place is unique.

Our Story

We get asked two questions all the time, “What’s the story of ZABS Place?” and “Who is ZABS?” As directors of Friendship Circle, an organization supporting children with special needs, Bentzion and Rochel Groner realized that employment opportunities for young adults with special needs were severely limited following graduation from high school. The Groners had been exploring potential solutions when they were approached by Charlie and Caren Gale, who had become frustrated in their effort to find employment for their 18-year-old son on the Autism Spectrum. After extensive research and much joint effort ZABS Place opened in 2014.

So who is ZABS? ZABS is the acronym of the Hebrew name of a young man named Zachary. A happy, athletic, positive, take-over-the-world (in a good way) teen. He was awesome to be around. His friends and family loved him. His teachers raved about him. He was passionate about helping others, especially children and teens with special needs. That’s how he got involved in Friendship Circle. When Zachary was 18, he was diagnosed with a horrific form of Leukemia. He fought a ferocious battle and bravely faced the challenges and suffering no 18 year old should know. Ever! Zachary went into a remission for a short while but unfortunately the dreaded disease came back, and Zachary was taken from us at the young age of 19. ZABS Place reminds us of Zecharya Avraham Boruch Shporer and the incredible example he lived and taught.

Our Programs

ZABS Training Program

It’s hard to get a job with no experience. It’s even harder to get experience with no job. That’s why we’re here. We offer Job Skills Training, based on the interests and abilities of each of our Specially Talented trainees.

ZABS After Hourz

We believe that work should be FUN. But, so should hanging out together! That’s why we offer After-Hourz events for our ZABS Talent to enjoy socializing, spending time, and sharing laughs together, just like their peers!

ZABSpreneurs

We’re AMAZED by the abilities of our Special Talent. That’s why we’re dedicated to helping local Special Talent perfect their skills and create a sellable product, right in our store! We support Special Micro-businesses.

Upcycling University

We love crafting and we’re all about inclusion. That’s why we created an inclusive opportunity to craft and build community with individuals who have special needs talents. This is another way we teach skills that can lead to financial independence.

Our Talent

Bentzion

Bentzion

Chief Executive Talent

Blaire

Blaire

ZABSpreneur Advizor | Organizing Officer

Jonny

Jonny

Talent Mentor

Bentzion

Chief Executive Talent

A Rabbi, a Dreamer, and a Native Charlottean walk into ZABS Place. Sounds like a joke but actually it’s Bentzion (or Rabbi Ben as we call him). As Chief Executive Talent, Rabbi Ben wears many hats at ZABS. You might find him pitching ZABS to a crowd of 1,000, chatting with a potential donor, or arranging a truck load of donated furniture from a showroom in High Point, NC. Whatever he’s doing it’s with enough passion for 10 people!

Fun Fact: Bentzion’s dream job is to be a pilot!

Blaire

Organizing Officer

ZABSpreneur Advizor

Blaire is ALL things crafty, creative, and organized. Wait, WHAAT?! Is that even a thing? Yup, seems it’s possible to be super crafty, creative, AND organized. Either that, or we’ve found a southern unicorn.  With great attention to detail and lots of love and support, Blaire helps each of our ZABSpreneurs develop, perfect, and streamline their product so customers will love it!

Fun Fact: Blaire was a Principal in the Union County Public Schools for 20 years!

Jonny

Talent Mentor

ZABS Place is not “just a job” we have supports and mentors in place even after hours. Talent you need to have many talents, otherwise it’s hard to keep up. Thank G-d for Coach Jonny! Whether supporting our Online Sales Talent, Donation Sorting Talent, or Clothes Hanging Talent, he’s patient, understanding, team-playing, guitar-playing, idea generating, and all around ZABStastic! 

Fun Fact: Jonny used to run a ship anchored in the middle of the ocean! 

Kristen

Talent Accelerator

Is it her patience, her smile, or her creative approach to skill-building that makes her so amaZing at helping our Talent learn? She’s got the perfect balance between supporting and stimulating growth & independence. She’s all about meeting our Special Talent where they are and helping them get where they want to go.

Fun Fact: Kristen thought her dream job was to work in a hospital and it wasn’t till she started that she realized that wasn’t really her dream! Maybe that’s why she is super committed to helping our ZABS Talent figure out and follow their dreams!

Lisa

Snow Globe Shaker

Snow globes are beautiful until the glitter settles. Then they’re kinda boring. Lisa makes sure to shake things up just enough so the glitter swirls again! She’s all about opportunity and making magic happen at ZABS Place. She’s also the one who helps you find that special something when you happen to stumble in “just to look around.”

Fun Fact: Lisa has Super Talents! She’s been Director of a Preschool, Head of a Retail Store, and even Director of a Children’s Museum.

Inspirational Fact: ZABS Place is named after Lisa’s son Zachary who passed away from Leukemia when he was 19.

Rochel

ZABSaholic-in-Chief

Worker-bee. Workaholic. Workhorse. Call it what you want, but this girl is ALWAYS working. Pricing clothes, ringing up a customer, fixing furniture, upcycling a “curb-find”, are all things Rochel does on the side. Her main job of course is being the Director of ZABS Place!

Fun Fact: Rochel is sometimes called the “Girl on the Plane” thanks to an interesting experience she had on (you guessed it) an airplane back in the summer of 2017.

Kristen

Kristen

Talent Accelerator

Lisa

Lisa

Snow Globe Shaker

Rochel

Rochel

ZABSaholic-in-Chief

Stacy

Product Queen

Meet Stacy. Trust us, you’ll want to meet her. She can turn whaah into wowza and she makes it look easy! We’re not kidding, have you seen our displays? Stacy takes our incredible donationz and makes sure to evaluate and arrange them in the perfect way so you can see what makes them special and imagine how they’ll look in their new home.  She’s part decorator, part investigator, part retail guru, part magician… that’s why we call her Product Queen for short.

Fun Fact: Stacy has worn many hats in her life, but we were the first to crown her!

Stacy

Stacy

Product Queen

Our Board

George Alston

George Alston

Board Member

Scott Brennan

Scott Brennan

Board Member

Darius Chase

Darius Chase

Board Member

Jenny Dye

Jenny Dye

Board Secretary

Scott Brennan

Board Member

Strategy, operations, finance, technology consulting, Fortune 500 companies… Sounds like we’re cramming for a business degree midterm. Actually, we’re talking about Scott’s career of over 32 years. But that’s not all! He’s a Partner with Social Venture Partners and a retiree from Accenture. He is on the board of several nonprofits including SVP Charlotte and GenOne Charlotte.

Fun Fact: Scott has three grown children and has called Charlotte home for over 20 years. 

Darius Chase

Board Member

Currently serving as Relationship Manager for South State Bank specializing in health care and commercial banking, Darius has over 19 years of experience serving clients in a variety of banking roles. He also is a Board Member for Loaves and Fishes of Charlotte. Darius believes that everyone has their own individual talents and should have the opportunity to realize their dreams of leading meaningful lives.

Fun Fact: Darius and his wife have two daughters and he’s a Charlotte Sports fan.

Jenny Dye

Board Chair

After retiring from a career in accounting, Jenny began volunteering with a wide variety of non-profits. She’s a partner with Social Venture Partners-Charlotte and loves learning about all the inspiring stories that come from ZABS Place.

Fun Fact: Jenny enjoys playing tennis, reading and traveling.

Caren Gale

Co-Founder and Board Member

Caren is a true Mamma Bear! She won’t rest until all her cubs are cared for. Caren became a special needs advocate when her son was diagnosed with Autism at age 2. She realized that with a little encouragement and support, anyone and everyone can succeed. Today, Caren is the Chief Advocate and Community Liaison for ZABS Place.

Fun Fact: Caren is an incredible best story-teller and her cub son Jonathan was the first employee at ZABS Place!

Charles Gale

Co-Founder and Board Member

After switching careers with his family’s move to Charlotte, Charlie taught at the Fletcher School for nine years before retiring after the 2019 school year. After his son with Autism expressed interest in having a job after high school, Charles and his wife Caren realized they needed to help prepare him to enter the working world. They realized they were not alone and that job training was a need for thousands of other young adults in the Charlotte area. After meeting with the Groners, they set out to make this plan a reality for their son and many others.

Fun Fact: Charles lived in L.A. and worked in the film industry for 25 years.

 

Matt Herson

Board Member
The CIO of the Global Accident and Health Division of AIG, Matt is responsible for casting multi year technology strategies and overall IT delivery. In addition to ZABS, Matt sits on the Board of the Cowan Slavin Foundation which grants to 501c(3) organizations in North Carolina, New York and California.  Matt is active in the Charlotte InsureTech / FinTech community with advisory roles in both Queen City FinTech and Carolina FinTech Hub.  Matt lives in Charlotte with his wife Jane and 2 children Daniel and Annie. 

Fun Fact: When not working, Matt enjoys household projects and vacations in the family RV.

Henry Lander

Past Board Chair

Henry is an undercover Magician. He excels at analyzing complex situations and magically creates actionable plans to help organizations achieve their goals. On second thought, maybe he’s a Ninja! As a Six Sigma Black Belt he uses Change Management techniques to simplify and improve problem analysis, decision making, and planning. It’s better than a knock-out punch! Take that complex situation! 

Fun Fact: Henry is a native of Venezuela and has a real passion for supporting Latinx-led businesses.

Caren Gale

Caren Gale

Co-Founder and Board Member

Charles Gale

Charles Gale

Co-Founder and Board Member

Matt Herson

Matt Herson

Board Member

Henry Lander

Henry Lander

Past Board Chair

Amy Macari

Board Secretary

In addition to her primary roles as mom, wife, and semi-pro trip planner, Amy serves as Director of Strategy and Teaming for The Pelora Group. She has over 15 years of experience in delivering strategic and operational leadership. She attended Rutgers University for undergraduate studies and completed the Graduate School of Banking program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is also a certified Kolbe Consultant.

Fun Fact: Amy’s competitive nature only comes out during trivia games and she hopes to one day be a Jeopardy Champion!

 

Jon Massachi

Board Member

As a native of Charlotte, Jon is very involved in the local community. Jon graduated from ECU in 2007 and began his career with BB&T (now Truist) where he is now a top-producer in residential mortgages. Jon is an original board member of ZABS Place and loves to see the amazing things that ZABS provides to our community.

Fun Fact: Jon was born with Cerebral Palsy and he’s never let it get in the way of his dreams. 

Barbara Rein

Board Member

Barbara is a retired social worker who uses her experience and desire to help others in all her current volunteer work. She believes that everyone should have the opportunity to be successful in whatever they try and to keep growing as a person throughout their life.

Fun Fact: Barbara enjoys crafting and gardening.

Sue Schreiber

Board Member

Sue began her career as a counselor who worked with young adults with special needs helping them find job opportunities and navigate the benefits system. That was followed by over 25 years in Early Childhood Education. Sue has always worked with children and their families and believes that everyone deserves to be in an environment that considers and respects their individual ability, cultural background and developmental needs. 

Fun Fact: Sue is learning Hebrew so she can keep up with her young granddaughters who live in Israel! 

Amy Macari

Amy Macari

Board Secretary

Jon Massachi

Jon Massachi

Board Member

Barbara Rein

Barbara Rein

Board Member

Sue Schreiber

Sue Schreiber

Board Member

Benjamin Schwartz

Board Member

Born in Charlotte, Benjamin is a Licensed NC Real Estate Broker and has interests in Politics, Finance, and the Environment. Benjamin is eager to see ZABS Place grow in the Charlotte market by helping raise awareness about what who we are and what we do to help local Special Talent.

Fun Fact: Ben has an 11 yr. old daughter and 4 yr. old son

Kelly Wollinger

Board Member

Kelly has worked in Marketing for over 10 years and has served on several organization boards and in other leadership positions… besides for being a Mom of two. She sees the socialization, peer networking, and friendships that happen at ZABS Place and the impact that they make outside of work. Kelly is passionate about being a part of a thriving and exciting grassroots organization that truly focuses on its mission. (That’s US!)

Fun Fact: Kelly is the Mom of one of our ZABS Gradz!

Benjamin Schwartz

Benjamin Schwartz

Board Member

Jim Vyse

Jim Vyse

Board Member

Corporate Friends

We are fortunate to have the support and partnership of incredible local businesses to help us recognize Special Talents and #Zpotential:

Action Plus Ideas

Advantage Wholesale Supply

Arts & Science Council

Brown Brothers Harriman

Collins Aerospace

Deckard Heating & Air Conditioning

IEQ

Maid Brigade

Morningstar Storage | Tyvola

Daniella Moffson Foundation

Reemprise Fund

South State Bank

Wells Fargo Foundation

Foundations

Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
Beta Club at Fletcher School 
Gang, Tyre, Ramer & Brown Foundation
HF Financial
Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte
Playing for Others, Inc.
Social Venture Partners
True Homes Foundation, Inc.  
The Zemeckis Foundation
Upstart Bay Area

Partners

Lori Aldridge-Love
Richard Baer
David Barman
Melody Barrett
Diane & Tom Bayes
Lawrence Berendt
Lea-Ann Berst
Elazar Bloom
Greg Bloom
Joann Blumenfeld
Maya Blumenfeld
Roy Blumenfeld
Sabin Blumenfeld
Margie Bovee
Sandy Brenner
Bobby Butler
Natalie Butler
Linda Campbell
Marlene Casel
Darius Chase
Peter Clinco
Pam Cox
Kata Daniel
Elizabeth Davis
Ekaterina Dmitrieva
Elaine Downer
Steph Dresner
Ira Dunst
Sally Dyer
Reisha Erdheim
Stuart Erdheim
Jacob Eraklidis
Sandy Finn
Ellen Polk Fligel
Kacy Forsberg
Julia Freifeld
Mica Gadhia
Bob Gale
Caren & Charlie Gale
Debra Gale
Jonathan Gale
Rebecca Gale
Samantha Gale
Nancy Geisinger
Arlene Gibbs
Sarah & Eric Gibbs
Harvey Gibbs

Bari Gorelick
Devorah & Shimon Gorkin
Rochel & Bentzion Groner
Debby Handler
Erin Malloy Hanley
Kelli Harmon
Nancy Heimler
Barbara Henry
Jane & Matt Herson
Nahed Hida
Vicki Hofmeister
Susan Horn
Andy Hunter
Jodie & Michael Iagnocco
Tim Johnson
Rhoda Klarsfeld
Christine Kline
Daniel Klionsky
Robbie Knight
Deb & John Kotecki
Henry Lander
Jeffrey Lederman
Tracy Lettang
Josh Loewensteiner
Audrey Madans
Sara Malka & Larry Margolis
Dina & Jon Massachi
Laura Milgrim
Risa Miller
Lisa Morris
Judith & Michael Norman
Sara Nussbaum
Arturo Obando
Danni Olson
Sally Ormand
Ora & Rafi Ortiz
Kreg Osborne
Sherri Osiason
Yael Osovski
Marcelle & Allan Oxman
Val Patterson
Collette Pendergrass
Bobby Pittenger
Nancy Proctor
Marsha Riibner-Cady
Linda & Elias Roochvarg
Susan Royer
Anne Schmitt

Sue Schreiber
Susan Schreiber M.D.
Jeffrey Schwartz
Elisabeth Cady Severa

Stacey & Roni Sharoni
Alexander Shporer
Brianna Shporer
Lisa & Fred Shporer
Paul Silverman
Marcia & Paul Simon
Louis Sinkoe
Bashia & Mason Sklut
Ariana Sloan
Shirley Small
Sandi & Glen Snider
Meryl Stark
Jenna Stewart
Ruth Story
Nancy & David Strunk
Jamie & Jason Tanenbaum
Sandra Thompson
Barbara Tobias
Sabra Tourigny
Joyce & Vinh Tran
Jacquie Tribble
Leslie Tuttle
Tiffany Tyler
Michael Van Glish
Fern Vinston
Amy Vitner
Janet Walker
Loretta Wallace
Sheryl Weingrow
Lauren & Frank Wiseman
Rabbi Michael Wolk
Joanna Wong
Sue & Kim Worrel
Kory Zussman
Molly Zussman 

Volunteers

Andrea Gamlin
Tammy Helms
Marian Holt
Jill Poszywak
Elias Roochvarg
Lisa & Fred Shporer
Kristen Warden

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