The 30,000-square-foot building, now a ReStore, is designed like a showroom floor crowded with sofas, lamps, front doors, washing machines, artwork and even Christmas decorations — all for sale to benefit the nonprofit organization.
It’s the second ReStore for Habitat in Martin County, and it is filled with donations from contractors and others with anything you might need to refurbish, restore or redecorate a home.
The new location, which opened Saturday, will eventually house the nonprofit’s administrative offices. The other location is in the Golden Gate neighborhood in Stuart.
That site has become a regular money-maker for Habitat, raising about $500,000 a year for the organization. Organizers said the location had the potential to raise even more with all the generous donations, but they ran out of space.
It took only about two months to fill the new large store.
“Our donors and Martin County are very philanthropic,” Habitat’s Executive Director Margot Graff said.
The purpose of the stores is to raise money for Habitat’s programs, including new construction and rehabilitation of homes in Martin County.
“Nobody gets anything for free,” Graff said about the home improvements and construction projects.
In order to qualify, families and individuals must demonstrate a need for safe housing, qualify for an interest-free mortgage, partner with a mentor to learn budgeting and others skills needed for home maintenance, and complete 300 hours of sweat equity or volunteering for the nonprofit.
Those sweat equity hours could either be helping build a house or making phone calls to recent donors.
The need is great in the county, Graff said. “It’s endless how many people are living in substandard homes.”
Last year, she said, there were 492 applications for new homes, but the organization built only 10 and repaired more than 40.
The beauty of the program, Graff said, is that there aren’t any repeat customers and the projects become a community event.
“It’s neighbor helping neighbor,” she said.
Linda Klasek has been volunteering with the organization since 2008, offering about one full day each weekend to help with anything needed. On opening day, she was pricing merchandise and helping customers.
She has even helped build 30 homes over the years.
“It’s fun,” Klasek said about volunteering. “And to me, this is an opportunity to give back.”
Her favorite moments with the organization are when she sees children who have never had their own room walk into their new bedrooms for the first time.
That joy is infectious.
“That, to me, is really special,” she said. “It’s heartwarming.”
Allison Blomer, a retired physician, and Lauren Raub, a recent Florida Atlantic University graduate, both worked hard to get the new location ready. The women built wall accents, laid tile and installed baseboards.
Blomer said the experience has been rewarding.
“It’s a way to give back to the community who supported me in my practice,” she said.
For Raub, the experience provides opportunities that might help her professionally. She graduated with a degree in architecture.
“I like learning how buildings get built,” she said.
For Miriam Reed, the volunteers have made the new site beautiful, and she sees it as an opportunity because the location is easily noticed. She said people started buying some of the stock before the store officially opened.
Reed, a retired IBM lawyer, serves on Habitat’s board and serves on the development committee. She uses 14 years experience working in the area of planned giving at the Detroit Institute of Arts to help Habitat raise dollars.
“If I believe in the mission, I have no problem asking for money,” she said.
And it’s the mission that Klasek said she has watched make a difference in the lives of families.
The way she sees it, Habitat for Humanity does so much more than provide people a place to live.
“They’re not just giving a house, they are giving a life,” she said.
