Shopping and Charity at a Southern Illinois Secret ...Silver Creek Mill

There's a hidden gem in the small town of Mascoutah, in the western part of St Clair County, an hour's drive east of the St Louis Gateway Arch.

Silver Creek Mill occupies a large showroom in a converted auto dealership, presenting a staggering variety of work offered by artists and crafters from throughout Southwestern Illinois, many of them award-winners.

The prices are impressively reasonable.  There are tapestries, paintings, ceramics, water colors, pen-and-inks, quilts, hand-dyed yarns, afghans, wooden furniture pieces, jewelry, and all kinds of gift items.  Among those whose talents are represented are Alma Diekman who paints porcelain, pottery from Kathy Schaeffer, the work of scrafmaker Hans Coehl, jewelry-maker Larry Heterberg, and painter Rita Cooper.

You can spend as much as you want on some truly magnificent work, but for only a couple bucks, you can also find many nice little gifts that are the equivalent of stocking stuffers.

Garden items are also added through a greenhouse recently added to the store.

Much of the work is done by volunteers like Bart Hilyer, who says they started in November 2007 with about 30 consigners.  Now they have about 200 artists and crafters represented.  Last year, Silver Creek Mill brought the Governor's Home Town Award to Mascoutah.

Funds Program for Developmentally Disabled

Since November 2007, the shop has been supporting the 501c non-profit ALFA Foundation of Southwestern Illinois an innovative program formed to assist developmentally disabled adults of the region.  The day programs offered help those affected by autism, Down's syndrome, cerebral palsy, and other conditions that cause some level of mental retardation in adults.

ALFA Foundation (A Life Worth Living) raises money through the Siolver Creek Mills shopto help support local operations of Trinity Services, Inc., of Joliet, which expanded its operations into Mascoutah and Southwestern Illinois.  Hilyer says what Trinity offers is a step above institutional or sheltered workshop operations.  Many of those served are non-verbal and low-functioning, says Hilyer.  His son is autistic and never developed speech.

"Trinity gets them out into different places in the community and finds the things that interest him" he said.  "It's quite a departure from the services our son got previous to this, from a different provider, in more of a classic, sheltered workshop environment."

The greenhouse serves as a horticulture lab for Trinity clients who grow fresh produce for the Mascoutah farmer's market, operated in the summer months by Trinity.  Other clients take part in a three-day-a-week woodworking program where they make wooden boxes, shelving units, and outdoor furniture (the boxes are on sale at Silver Creek Mill) and others clean stables and water horses at Cornerstone Farms in St. Jacob.  Trinity has also opened two group homes in the Mascoutah area.

Starting the Shop

As for the shop, it's an impressive operation, a credit to the creativity and the talents of the people from the area, said Hilyer.  He said they were working on a very limited budget when they began.  He said a local businessman, John Bailey, bought the auto dealership where the shop is located for extensive remodeling.  The shop shares its space with ALFA and Trinity.  Directing the Southwestern operations for Trinity is Mike Lowery.  Hilyer said Lowery's vision of better lives for adults with developmental disabilities is really driving things at Silver Creek Mill.

Special Events and Contact Info

Special events at the shop every six to eight weeks highlight the talents of artists and crafters who collect 75% of the profit with 25% to Trinity.  A website at http://silvercreekmill.net includes scheduled upcoming events.

Silver Creek Mill is located at 606 South Mill Street in Mascoutah.  The phone number is 618-566-8500.