Habitat ReStore offers value for home remodelers
By Mary Hookham
Helping people accomplish the dream of owning their own homes and doing it resourcefully is just part of the mission of Habitat ReStore in Dane County, WI. During a time when the price of goods is skyrocketing, this resale store provides local people with affordable, sustainable building materials to complete home repair projects.
“Since reopening after covid, we’ve had a big year here because people are home doing projects,” said Valerie Renk, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Dane County.
Habitat ReStore, which has two locations in Madison, accepts donations of new and used materials. Profits from the donations, along with fundraisers, help finance homes for local, low-income residents at a low interest rate while also allowing other area homeowners to affordably remodel their homes using inexpensive products.
“There’s a 30 percent increase in the cost of building homes this year,” she said. “Consumers doing remodeling projects are shocked at the cost of products, but they can get materials at our ReStore at half price.”
Some of the accepted donations include cabinets, flooring, crown molding, light fixtures and some furniture pieces. Building contractors donate leftover materials after completing jobs, and homeowners donate partially-used products after completing repairs and projects.
“A lot of people come because they have something in their homes from a certain era and they’re trying to match what they already have,” Renk said. “My favorite thing in the store was a disco ball.”
It’s simple to help others, she said. Donors can go to the ReStore website to upload a photo of their items:
https://habitatdane.org/restore/donate-items/
After that, they can ask if ReStore wants their items before dropping them off.
“We use software to help with efficiency, and continue our efforts to be thoughtful about our environment,” she said. In fact things are finally looking up again, “People are applying to the home-building program, a sign of increasing prosperity,” Renk said.
“When the economy dips, people don’t apply,” she said. “But we are very busy processing applications now, which means people are feeling positive about the future.”
The ReStores contribute to the building of about 15 homes each year. Since 2002, they have kept 12,223 tons of building materials out of landfills.
Renk said the main barrier to owning a home is having money for the down payment because many Americans live paycheck to paycheck, which makes it almost impossible to save enough money. But if people work hard, they can help their families buy homes, which provides security and stability. Kids living in homes where their parents are the owners are more likely to get better grades, finish high school and continue on to higher education, Renk noted. They’re also more likely to vote.
“The bottom line with our program is families pay full market price for their homes but Habitat makes it affordable through zero-percent loans and only one-percent down payments,” she said. “It’s important for families and for society to have homeowners; ownership needs to be a big deal again like it used to be.”
