Pop-Up Shops Deliver Self-Care Gifts to Domestic Violence Shelter Residents
Children in domestic violence shelters nationwide are "paying" for Mother's Day gifts with self-affirmations, not money, at pop-up shops co-founded by NYC attorney Jacqueline Newman.
Children living in domestic violence shelters across the United States can choose a gift for their mothers this Mother's Day and "pay" for it not with money, but with a self-affirmation written in their own handwriting. The Gift of Giving Store, a traveling pop-up initiative co-founded by New York City matrimonial attorney Jacqueline Newman, sets up shop in shelter common rooms nationwide, stocking them with cozy blankets, handmade jewelry, pampering kits, and other curated self-care items through the weeks leading up to Mother's Day.
The checkout process is unlike anything at a conventional store. Each child selects a gift, then steps up to a mirror at a cashier station to speak kind words about themselves aloud before the transaction completes. Written prompts guide them: "I'm proud of myself for..." and "One thing my mom loves about me is..." The affirmation, not a dollar amount, is what closes the purchase. The Gift of Giving Store frames this as a deliberate therapeutic ritual, designed to give children the experience of choosing and giving a meaningful gift while building a moment of emotional growth and self-worth alongside it.
The backdrop is significant. The National Network to End Domestic Violence's 20th Annual Domestic Violence Counts Report found that more than 84,000 survivors and their children were served in a single day across U.S. shelters. For many of those families, Mother's Day passes inside a shelter without the ordinary rituals that mark the holiday elsewhere, which is exactly the gap the pop-up model is built to close.
Newman, managing partner at Berkman Bottger Newman & Schein LLP in New York City and author of "The New Rules of Divorce" (Simon & Schuster, 2020), built the initiative around a direct premise: "When children are given the opportunity to give, they grow in confidence, self-worth, and love." By removing the financial transaction entirely, the shop gives children who cannot buy gifts the same access to the act of giving that their peers outside shelters take for granted. For the mothers receiving a handmade jewelry piece or a pampering kit alongside their child's written affirmation, the gift carries a different kind of weight than anything purchased retail.
The pop-up shops continue operating at shelters across the country through Mother's Day. Organizations or individuals interested in bringing the program to a shelter can contact Newman directly at jacqueline@giftofgivingstore.com or visit giftofgivingstore.com. Press and partnership inquiries go to Ryan McCormick at Goldman McCormick PR: ryan@goldmanmccormick.com or +1 (516) 901-1103.
The program asks nothing of the mothers receiving the gifts except to let their children give.
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