Behind the Green Door

By Elizabeth Bobbitt

Along with its many unexpected treasures, the Green Door Thrift Shop is tucked away behind the intersection of Broadway and Basse Road. Crystal champagne flutes sit beside delicately painted teacups, while handbags hang next to a bookshelf where Ina Garten’s “Go-To Dinners” rests next to antique sheet music and paperback novels. Since the Women’s Auxiliary of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church opened the Green Door in April of 1953, the shop’s inventory of clothing, jewelry, housewares, linens, and small furniture—all amassed from community donations whose net proceeds go toward a range of local charities—tells the story of 78209.

“When we first opened 73 years ago, our original location was in Cementville, and a lot of folks shopped there because of the affordability of our merchandise. Today, while times have changed, our threefold mission is the same. We provide a place of community for our volunteers and staff, a dignified shopping experience for our customers, and, ultimately, we exist to provide for charity. Last year, we delivered $200,000 in financial impact to our community,” says Chair of the Board of Directors, Roberta Ortega.

There is a bustle of activity behind the scenes of the Green Door, where volunteers are busy sorting clothes, logging inventory, and tagging merchandise. Nearby, Annie, a guide-dog-in-training, plays with a squeaky chew toy under the desk of volunteer, Beth Sprangle, while she sorts through a stack of board games. This is a typical scene at the shop, where volunteers work to foster long-lasting partnerships between San Antonio non-profits and the Church.

“We work with Guide Dogs of Texas and Vision Guide Dogs to provide socialization for trainee dogs. Our volunteer, Christiana Davis, named one of the guide dogs ‘Luke,’ after St. Luke’s,” Roberta says.

There is a contagious sense of warmth and purpose that pervades the Green Door, and Roberta, who began working at the shop as a habitual Saturday volunteer, attributes this atmosphere to the Green Door’s thriving volunteer community.

“Today, we have 60 volunteers of all ages and backgrounds. Some of our youngest volunteers come from the ‘Teens Give Back’ program, while our eldest volunteer is in her nineties. Many of our volunteers have deep roots in 78209. As a community, we celebrate, mourn, and belong together,” Roberta says.

Laura Davis, a current resident at The Forum at Lincoln Heights, has been a volunteer every Friday since 1994.

“I first came to the Green Door in 1962, when I was a seventh grader at Alamo Heights Junior School. My mother knew lots of neighborhood ladies who volunteered here back then. One day, she surprised me with the cutest green dress with an enamel buckle. It came from the sale rack here at the shop,” Laura says.

When asked what keeps her coming back to the Green Door, Laura Davis agrees with fellow volunteer of fifteen years, Nancy Cooper, who says, “it’s the loving community of volunteers who make the Green Door such a special place to work.”

What’s New at the Green Door

Starting this spring, the Green Door is extending their weekend hours in order to better serve the shop’s shifting customer demographic.

“It is now the younger generations—Millennials and Gen Z—that we see coming to the store. Thrifting is in vogue now, and these customers aren’t looking for fast fashion, or clothes that will end up in a landfill. We want to accommodate these younger customers who work during the week by extending our Saturday hours from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.,” says Roberta. 

In recent years, the Green Door has been re-envisioning their funding goals in an effort to increase community impact. Grant applications for 2026 will open this August. 

“We want to focus on four strategic pillars: housing insecurity, food insecurity, family violence, and children and youth. In line with this vision, our seven grant recipients of 2025 included Magdalena House, Faith Kitchen, and Special Reach, to name just a few,” Roberta says.

While the Green Door’s charitable mission remains a constant presence in 78209 and beyond, its eclectic, ever-changing inventory ensures that no two visits to the shop are ever the same.

“Every day there’s a pop-up sale that we don’t advertise on social media,” Roberta says. “Each day is a surprise at the Green Door, so come on in and find out.”