Bringing People Together
- searcylivingads
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Through the Habitat for Humanity ReStore
By Jennifer Webb
My husband stopped at a thrift store one day on his way home from work; it was a more pleasant way to wait for the traffic jam to clear. He found an everyday treasure.
It was a table, gently used. It didn’t have the legs attached, but after a brief inspection, he found them lying on the floor and determined that he could get hardware to fix it easily. We needed a bigger dining table, so I was delighted when he brought it home.
But time went by, and it didn’t fit our space or our needs anymore. “We need to donate this table,” I told him. “ I did briefly consider selling it on Facebook Marketplace but decided in favor of donating it instead.
We dropped it off at Habitat for Humanity ReStore. (I would discover a surprise later, when I went back to shop.) I knew the table would turn into a lot more than just a table at the Habitat store.
The ReStore is probably the most visible part of Habitat. Most people know that they build houses for people. What many people don’t realize is that they do not GIVE away houses. There is work and money involved for the family that gets the house.
It starts with an online application process. They accept applications from low to middle-income families, especially those struggling to find affordable housing. After an applicant is selected, they have to commit to putting in a certain number of “sweat equity” hours. Some of those can be worked at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, or by friends and family, but a good portion has to be done by the applicant.
Habitat has a lot of moving parts that come together once an applicant is selected. They work with a variety of lenders to lend the amount of money needed to provide affordable housing for a family. They classify “affordable” as no more than one third of your monthly income going toward housing.
The houses they build are usually simple, yet functional. They gather donations from area businesses, and often, applicants are asked if they have any resources, as well. (Do you know anyone who does plumbing, electricity, etc. ?) They also take some of their funding from the sales they get from the Habitat store and use it to build a house at a reduced cost (but not free).
Local businesses and contractors regularly work with Habitat, but you don’t have to be a skilled laborer to volunteer. People from all walks of life come and volunteer their labor to work on the house. Often, you get skilled tradesmen working alongside college kids, gently instructing and teaching along the way. Volunteers come from all walks of life—families, young adults, older adults, singles—anyone who is willing to donate time and effort.
Along the way is where the real magic happens—the connections that the people make with each other and especially for the applicant who is chosen for the Habitat House. Many applicants are single moms. They may not know anyone except for their co-workers. They may not have family nearby, but during the building process, they start meeting and talking to people. It forms an organic support system that they may not have had before.
They might meet someone willing to watch the kids, or they may start talking careers, and a seed of “maybe I should take a leap and go get the education I need to get a better-paying job” gets planted.
The other thing the applicants have to do to fulfill their end of the contract is take classes on how to care for their new home. If you grew up mowing the grass and fixing the sink, it’s not that hard. But if you’ve never done it before, you might find yourself looking at a task with no idea where to start.
Once the applicants move into the house with their families, they often have a better support system in place. They are not crippled by rent they can barely afford, and with that comes life-changing stability. Their money is now building ownership in something. Now they can breathe under the weight of their mortgage and start looking at ways to better their lives and their children’s lives.
The Habitat ReStore itself is worked by volunteers, many of whom love Habitat’s mission and want to give back. It provides a great place to shop for affordable pieces of furniture, fixtures, and household items, and partially funds projects that make a life-changing difference.
When I went back to shop at the Habitat store, I was surprised to see a price tag of only $40 on my thrifted table. I smiled and ran my hands over the piece that had once sat in my home, knowing that it would go on to bring people together—both for whomever purchased it and whomever benefited from its purchase.
"Along the way, is where the real magic happens - the connections that the people make with each other, and especially for the applicant who is chosen for the Habitat House."
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