Brookelyn Elias Promise
Wyoming, MI
Brookelyn’s Thrifty Threads is a youth‑led social enterprise that diverts textiles from landfills while providing hands‑on workforce development, mentoring, and community access to affordable clothing.
It operates as a circular‑economy hub where young people learn sorting, pricing, customer service, and retail operations while keeping thousands of pounds of clothing in local reuse and recycling streams.
Brookelyn’s Thrifty Threads is a youth‑led social enterprise that keeps thousands of pounds of clothing out of landfills while giving young people real job skills, mentoring, and a safe place to grow.
Every bag of donated clothing directly supports local teens, strengthens Michigan’s circular economy, and ensures that families in our community have access to affordable, dignified clothing.
Help Us Source
High‑quality clothing donations (all ages, all sizes)
Textiles for recycling (even stained or damaged items)
Volunteers to help sort, mentor, or run donation drives Local partners who want to join a growing textile‑diversion network
The average person throws away 81 pounds of clothing each year, and most of it ends up in landfills even though 95% of textiles can be reused or recycled. At Brookelyn’s Thrifty Threads, every pound we divert becomes a learning opportunity for youth and a win for the environment.
“My top takeaway from participating in the Social Enterprise Collective Cohort is how powerful it is to build a social enterprise on a foundation of clear systems, collaborative learning, and shared purpose.
The cohort helped me sharpen the operational and impact frameworks behind Brookelyn’s Thrifty Threads, showing me how our youth‑led textile diversion model can scale sustainably while strengthening Michigan’s circular economy. Being in community with other founders also reinforced that we are not building in isolation—our collective knowledge, challenges, and innovations accelerate impact for the communities we serve.”