“We don’t have deep pockets, but we wanted to open a place where people could come in and get what they need -- and if they do have a dollar to spend, their dollar is a blessing to another family.”

Well, bless you, Suzanne.

And you, too, Kristin.

The two women met on the fourth floor of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber plant’s warehouse in August 1992.

They immediately connected, both of them readers, crafters, givers. Always handing down this hand-me-down and that, or coming across someone who needed something and finding it.

After their Goodyear gigs ended, they found human services jobs, and more people found them.

They were like the Goodwill Mafia. The phone would ring: I heard you can find us a bed, a dresser, a crib ...

And they did. They found, gave, collected.

Cars filled up, basements filled up, storage units filled up.

“It got to the point where we looked like hoarders,” Suzanne says. “We had to do something.”

And then they formed a 501c3 and found this first-floor space for rent.

And it filled up.

Macie's is an acronym, not a person, although sometimes customers call Suzanne “Miss Macie” and she doesn’t correct them.

The acronym stands for this: Mentoring Adults and Children for Independence, Excellence and Success.

The two women help families find jobs, set up households, invite them to sit on the couch and share their woes.

“The community couch,” Kristin calls it.

Babies sleep here. Moms get a shoulder to cry on.

Frances Lott has been one of them, sharing while Suzanne and Kristin, both trained mentors, listen.

“They’re both awesome,” Frances says.

The mother of three started volunteering at Macie’s shortly after it opened 18 months ago.

“I’m so comfortable with them. Whenever I need assistance, I can always go talk to them.”

They’ve assisted her with clothes, coats, shoes, a Christmas tree, presents for her kids, food baskets, furniture, their friendship.

And what goes around is coming around. When Frances’ kids outgrow their clothes, they go back to Macie’s Place.

Which is a very good place to be on a Wednesday afternoon at the cusp of the giving season, where Kristin and Suzanne are grateful for their customers and their donated truck and their volunteers.

And for the customers who pay it forward — handing cash to people who don’t have enough, buying a doll for a little girl whose mom doesn’t have enough.

“We would have given it to them anyway,” says Suzanne.

But still.

And for the homeless man who took his free clothing and then came back in and stuffed a crumpled dollar bill in the donation jar and made Kristin cry.

“I have to say, it’s the people who have the least to give are usually the ones who give the most,” Suzanne says.

The two friends figure they’ve found their purpose.

Says Kristin: “These things aren’t ours. They’re given to us to give, and that’s what we do.”

Says Suzanne: “And we love it.”

And, she adds, they have blankets.

If anyone needs a blanket, it's yours.