More from 63rd Street: 2nd Chance Thrift Store

The employees behind the scenes of 2nd Chance Thrift Store have an impossible task.

Boxes the size of refrigerators are stacked 15 feet high, brimming with clothing and shoes. Smaller containers are crammed with random housewares, from books to bath towels. The entire length of the massive warehouse looks like its been slammed by a cardboard avalanche — an avalanche that unleashes a fresh deluge every time an inch of space is cleared away.

But the workers here aren’t overwhelmed. As I discovered when I stopped at 2nd Chance on my trip down 63rd Street, many of them have lived through far more challenging circumstances.