AMSTERDAM & JOHNSTOWN — For Sheena Flores, working at the Handy Ups N’ Downs thrift store is about more than collecting a paycheck.

Flores, 31, started working at the store on Guy Park Avenue in Amsterdam about a year ago as part of a public assistance work program.

After four months in the program, she was hired as a clerk at the store and no longer needed the public assistance.

The two area Handy Ups N’ Downs stores employ about 20 people, many of whom have mental illnesses and are placed there through the Mental Health Association in Fulton and Montgomery Counties. The health association leases the two buildings and owns and runs the stores.

Managers at the stores work with employees to help them with job training and social skills.

Although Flores came to the store through the local Department of Social Services and not the mental health association, she said she has struggled with confidence and anxiety issues in the past.

“I have more self-confidence in myself,” she said. “I also suffer from social anxiety disorder, and I’m so much better with that now.”

Flores lives in Amsterdam and was recently promoted to a supervisor at the store. She works there full time and said she does everything from folding clothes to counting the money in the cash register and delegating tasks to other employees.

“I love it here,” she said. “I have a whole lot more confidence in myself and I’m happier.”

Store manager Deb Miller said employees can relate to each other because they deal with similar problems such as depression, anxiety and addiction.

“I think it’s a fabulous opportunity for people with a mental illness to learn skills they do need to go on to other positions,” Miller said. “I’ve been very proud of several of the staff members that have gone on to school.”

The first Handy Ups N’ Downs opened in Amsterdam in the early 1990s. A Gloversville branch opened in 1999 and moved to South Comrie Avenue in Johnstown in 2004, where it remains open today.

The stores sell donated clothing and household items that employees sort, hang, tag and ultimately ring up for customers looking for a bargain.

“For a lot of them, work really is their salvation,” said Janine Dykeman, the executive director of the Mental Health Association in Fulton and Montgomery Counties. “They’re really well on the road to recovery and wellness.”

The association is a nonprofit group with a total annual budget of $1.5 million, most of which comes from state and federal money, Dykeman said. It provides about $80,000 a year in funding for the thrift stores, which operate at a loss but are designed for purposes other than generating a profit.

Officials at the thrift stores also work with groups such as the American Red Cross and local domestic violence shelters to give free clothing and other items to people in need.

Flores said she is hoping to use her job at the thrift store as a stepping stone to better opportunities in the future.

“Our goal, really, is to do whatever they feel is best for them. If they want to stay with us for six months [and then move on], that’s fine,” Dykeman said. “If they want to stay with us for six years, we’re OK with that too.”