Habitat for Humanity of the Sandhills was awarded a $72,000 grant from the Cole Foundation to establish a “ReStore,” a store where building materials and household items donated to the organization can be sold to raise money to build homes in the community.
The executive director of Habitat for Humanity of the Sandhills is located in Moore County, where there is already a “ReStore.” It raises enough money to build four or five homes a year.
She said when the store was started in Aberdeen, it took a generous donation similar to this one.
“Within about four months, we paid the start-up money back by building homes in Moore County,” said Elizabeth Cox said from the Habitat office in Aberdeen. “Our goal here is to have the store up and operational by Jan. 1. We still have a lot of hurdles to jump through, but we just jumped through one of the biggest ones in getting this support from the Cole Foundation.”
Habitat of the Sandhills Richmond County Area Manager Chris Carpenter explained the money was requested through normal means.
“We requested funds through their application process, and were awarded about $72,000,” Carpenter said. “The money we’re going to receive is going to give us some start up funding to realize our goal of opening up a ReStore here in Richmond County that will help us raise money to build homes.”
Carpenter said the Cole Foundation awarded Habitat for Humanity of the Sandhills a $30,000 matching grant to help construct a home last year, and when he applied for these funds he termed it as “teaching them to fish rather than giving them a fish.”
Cole Foundation Board of Directors member Sandy Ridley said it made good financial sense for the foundation to instead give Habitat its own fundraising mechanism.
“They’re using the same model that has been successful in other places, and I think this seems to be a good way of providing income to the organization in a poor county where it probably doesn’t get as many private donations as it does in Moore County,” Ridley said.
She said she might have questioned the proposal if it was another outlet for used clothing.
“These stores seem to be very successful, and they sell building products, building materials and household items,” she said. “It’s not clothing like we already have with The Christian Closet and other stores.”
Board member Charles Deane recused himself from voting, but said the board was very warm to the idea of bringing a Habitat for Humanity ReStore into the area.
“The members of the board were very positive about the future of Habitat for Humanity in Richmond County, and really about all the wonderful things they’ve already done here,” Deane said. “The whole idea of Habitat for Humanity is such a good thing for Richmond County that we felt this request deserved to be funded.”
Right now, Habitat of the Sandhills is building a four-bedroom, two-bath home in the Briarwood neighborhood of Hamlet for Kim Williams. Carpenter said it should be complete by the end of the year.
Carpenter said several potential locations have already been identified for the Richmond County ReStore, and the group will also begin taking applications for a manager for the store in the near future.
Cox said the Cole Foundation is not the only entity that has stepped up to the plate in Richmond County, however.
“We’ve had so much support there,” she pointed out.
She said the Holes for Humanity golf tournament recently sponsored by Tim and Nicole Hayden of Exit Realty and Hayden Construction raised $6,000 for the agency, and Habitat was recently named a United Way of Richmond County charity.
“We’ve had great support from this community,” she said. “They’ve really bound together to help make this a reality.”
She said an area doesn’t have to have rich retirement communities like those in Moore County to have a successful ReStore.
“The store in Scotland County has been very successful, and demographically, that’s probably a lot more like Richmond County than Moore County is,” she said. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and what this does is take materials that would’ve gone to the landfill and use them to build homes for people in need.”
She also said the store will employ Richmond County citizens, and give others an opportunity to volunteer their time for a worthy cause.
“And we’ll be recycling and reusing things that would’ve otherwise been thrown away,” Cox said.
She said the goal of the Habitat store is to raise enough funds to build a home in the second year.
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