Cypress Clark has done many things in her life — she repaired rifle scopes for her father’s gun company, built an off-the-grid home by hand in Potter Valley with her husband, worked at Radio Shack, and worked as a rancher. And that’s just the beginning. Her business card lists her current profession as seamstress, offering sewing alterations and repairs.
But for many people who’ve known her over the last seven years, she's been more like a random fairy godmother, offering free things—from clothing to appliances to everything in between—to anyone who needs them.
For more than six years, she ran a little free stand from a tent in front of a property on Kinley Road in Healdsburg. She started it in 2019 to help people who’d lost all their possessions in the fires. At first, her free stand ran 365 days a year. “I’d go out, and I’d refill it, and people would come and drop off donations … the next morning I look and tidy it up and redo it … It was like a garage sale,” Clark said, although everything was free.
Eventually, she cut back on the hours. “It was getting too overwhelming,” she said.
Around Easter of this year, the people who owned the property in Healdsburg asked her to take her little free stand elsewhere. At first she was devastated. “I’m like, I can’t lose this. This is one of my greatest joys,” she said. “Losing this would have broken my heart.”
Clark, who lives on the western edge of Santa Rosa, often gets her morning coffee at Roasters in Forestville. Looking around, she decided, “I’m just going to set up here. It’s a low-income community. It’s got a nice, comfortable atmosphere. I can eat and drink while I’m sitting here. And so I did.”
For the last several months, she’s been setting up her stand in the parking lot of Oaks Park in downtown Forestville. Every weekend, she goes through her shipping container of items donated by friends and clients. Then she packs up her white van and sets up her stand on Sunday in the parking lot on Highway 116. She has a table crowded with donated items, a clothing rack, and a hand-lettered sign that reads “Free.”
“I try to do it every Sunday, unless there’s an emergency or a family event or it’s raining,” she said. “But nine times out of 10, I’m going to be there on Sundays. I sit there from ten in the morning till three in the afternoon.”
Although she was pleased to have found a new spot, she said that initially, “It was sad because people didn’t know I was there. Only a few people would show up.”
But slowly and surely, she’s being discovered.
You never know what you’ll find at her little free stand.
That’s part of its charm, according to longtime Forestville resident Michelle Lester, who called Clark “one of the sweetest, kindest people that I’ve met.”
“This is my Sunday treasure hunt,” Lester said. “Her being here on Sundays has brought such a beautiful little sparkle to Forestville. She has such a beautiful presence and is so welcoming. So many people get to come find little treasures from her free stand.”
This weekend, Lester was thrilled to get a Roomba, something she’d always wanted.
Clark’s offerings are different every week.
“You never know what you’re going to get,” Clark said. “It could be breast pumps. It could be chainsaws. This week it was a Roomba and a guitar, and now you’re getting Christmas ornaments. I’ve had $1,400 Chanel clothes and purses. One lady, I was able to give her a whole bag full of baby clothes. It’s just really wonderful, and it’s fun.”
The biggest thing she has ever given away is a Kawasaki motorcycle, left by a friend who left the country and all his worldly possessions behind for her to distribute.
Although she originally started this endeavor to help fire victims, it soon became clear to her that she was also filling an economic need. “We’re in an economy right now where everything is so difficult for everybody,” she said. “This is a way of paying it forward.”
Clark isn’t well-off, but she’s happy with her life and considers herself fortunate. “I was raised as a tomboy. I’ve been a hippie. I’ve lived off the streets, and I’ve hung out with millionaires, so, you know, I’ve been very fortunate.”
A few weeks ago, she said, “A woman pulled up and recognized me, and she goes. ‘I remember you!’ And then she started crying. She said, ‘When I came here, I had nothing, and you came to my house at Christmas and filled my house with all the Christmas stuff and made it a home.’”
“It doesn’t get any frickin’ better than that,” Clark said. “I’m not doing this for accolades, but I’ll tell you, I love watching people smile. I love seeing somebody go, ‘This made my day’ Or ‘I needed this!’ Or ‘I’ve always wanted this!’ I mean, come on, it’s like I get to be Santa Claus 24/7.”