At 15 Water Street North in downtown Cambridge, the Redemption Prison Ministry Thrift Store operates as the general storefront in a two location network the ministry runs to fund its work supporting incarcerated men and women and their families. Unlike its sister location on Main Street, which is dedicated specifically to furniture, this Water Street store carries the broader everyday mix that keeps a community thrift shop useful week to week: clothing, small housewares, and household goods donated by residents across Cambridge and the surrounding Waterloo Region. The ministry is explicit about what it cannot take in, declining large appliances, mattresses, and home renovation materials, a policy that keeps the sales floor manageable and focused on items volunteers can realistically process and price.
The store is run primarily by volunteers under manager Lilian DaSilva, and every dollar spent there flows back into Redemption Prison Ministry’s core mission of prison outreach, a model that lets everyday secondhand shopping double as direct support for a specific local charitable cause rather than a distant or abstract one. Regular hours run Monday through Friday from 10:00am to 4:30pm, with Saturday hours that vary and the shop closed on Sundays, so calling ahead at 519-623-2274 or the ministry’s toll free line at 877-558-9488 is worthwhile for anyone planning a weekend visit. The organization can also be reached by mail at PO Box 696, Cambridge, Ontario N1R 5W6 for donation inquiries or general questions about its programs.
What makes this location distinct within the ministry’s own network is precisely its role as the general clearinghouse for donations that do not fit the specialized furniture store a few blocks away on Main Street. That division of labor lets each shop develop its own rhythm: the Main Street store attracts furniture donors and buyers specifically, while the Water Street location handles the steadier, higher volume turnover typical of a clothing and housewares thrift shop, restocked continuously as Cambridge area donors drop off bags of clothing and boxes of household items throughout the week. For volunteers and regular thrift shoppers alike, that steady rhythm of donations and turnover is part of what keeps the shelves interesting, since the mix on any given visit depends entirely on what the community brought in that week.
Anyone in Cambridge or the wider Waterloo Region looking for affordable clothing and everyday housewares while directly supporting a local prison ministry has a clear option in this Water Street storefront. Redemption Prison Ministry Thrift Store on Water Street North is best summarized as the general donation based thrift shop within a two store Cambridge network whose proceeds fund outreach and support programs for incarcerated individuals and their families, distinct from its furniture focused sister store on Main Street.
