The Habitat for Humanity Easter Egg Hunt

We are so excited to have our first ever egg hunt here in the ReStore! We had planned to have one last year, but with the Covid-19 shut down, that didn't get to happen. We hope all of you will join us tomorrow, April 2nd, to shop and hunt for one of our 24 special eggs. There will only be two dozen eggs hidden, and once they are found, no more will be put out. So, make sure you're here early! 

If you happen to find one of the green or blue eggs, hold on to it until you get to the register. Don't peek! If the seal is broken, your egg will be voided and you will not get the prize inside. Please remember that this is just for fun and to be kind to other egg hunters! If all goes well, we hope to do an annual egg hunt in the store! 

Also, we will be closed Saturday, April 3rd to give our staff and volunteers extra time with their families during the holiday!

We hope you all have a blessed Easter!

-Emily, Store Manager.

Looking Forward to 2021!

 

Thank you all so much for all the love and support you gave throughout 2020! During such a wild year, you all were such a shining light for us! Thanks to all of you, we were able to see a new homeowner receive the keys to her Habitat home! We were also able to do some much-needed repairs on homes for five different families in our community.

Our first sale week of 2021 was the biggest week we have ever had in the five years we’ve been open! That was such a fantastic start to our year, and with your help, we know we will be able to see more homeowners join our community and do more repairs to help those in need who are already here!

Without you all and your support, we would not be able to do what we do! We ask that you keep us in mind when you are ready to give donations! Whether you are down-sizing, redecorating, or moving, we will be here and ready to rehome all your gently used items!

 

-Emily Godwin, Store Manager.

Secondhand Christmas shopping!

 

Why should you buy secondhand items this Christmas? There are several reasons!

Vintage items have made a huge comeback over the years! Why buy a reproduction at a large store when you could go to your local restores and buy the original at a great price! One of the things we work hard to do here at the ReStore is research. If an item has a marking on it or any kind of identifier, we go online and use multiple different websites to see what our items go for online, and we take a considerable discount off whatever we find it going for.

We do our very best to make sure you’re getting the best price for vintage and antique things that you can’t find anywhere else! This year a lot of Christmas budgets are a lot lower than previous years because of Covid-19. You don’t have to worry about blowing your budget with us!

Have you ever worried that you’re going to give the same gift to a friend or loved one as someone else? Shopping with us almost guarantees your gift will be unique! Whether you’re looking for something trendy, vintage, quirky, or outright odd, we have you covered!

 

Make sure to make us and your other local resale shops on your list of places to stop this holiday!

 

-Emily Godwin, Store Manager.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 This time of year, we always reflect on what wonderful blessings our ministry has received throughout the year. We can not thank our community enough for all the happiness they bring to us and their neighbors. Because of our donors, patrons, and volunteers we were able to see a new homeowner move into her very own Habitat home. This year has been hard for a lot of people, but seeing Ms. Joy receiving her keys helped brighten 2020 tremendously for all of us.

One of my absolute favorite things about being a part of the Habitat family is watching someone in our community find something in our ReStore that they've been searching for or something they didn't know that they even needed but are thrilled to have. Your donations help brighten so many lives every week. 

We are so thankful for each and every person who enters our doors. Whether you're here to shop, donate, or volunteer, we are always so happy to see you all. You guys and our homeowners remind us why we do what we do. Your joy and happiness and kindness is what keeps us going, and for that we will always be thankful.

May God bless you all, and we hope you all have a very happy Thanksgiving!

- Emily Godwin, Store Manager.

We’re looking for volunteers!

Our volunteers are so special to us and to this organization. Habitat for Humanity is volunteer driven and without our fantastic volunteers, our mission wouldn’t be possible. Because of our volunteers, we have been able to build 51 homes, and 10 critical home repairs! We are able to bless so many in our community because of generous hearts and helping hands!  

Something I hear a lot is - “I’d love to volunteer, but I don’t know how to build houses” and “I’m just afraid I wouldn’t be useful in the store.” Everyone is useful in the ReStore! There are so many different tasks that are all equally important to keep our store up and running. We need people to help take in donations when they come in, to clean and organize the merchandise, help put priced items on the floor, assist with writing tickets for shoppers and pointing them toward the items they’re looking for.

We love our volunteers like family and every day they’re here is a great day. If you want to join our Habitat family, please give us a call at (662) 329-2501!

Meet Donation Ambassador Emily!

 Hello, everyone! 

My name is Emily Ferguson. I began working with the Habitat ReStore as a Donation Ambassador in July, and I have enjoyed it so much! As you may have noticed, we have two Emilys who work here. Ms. Joy even started calling me Emily 2, and our wonderful store manager Emily 1 haha. Either way, we both look up and are ready to help any time someone says Emily. 

As a Donation Ambassador, I am grateful to able to meet so many of our donors along with our customers. Every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, I accompany Kalib or Matthew on pick-ups for the donations that won't fit in standard vehicles. We are blessed to have our box truck, which helps us to retrieve the donations that people want to give us but cannot drop off themselves, such as couches, cabinets, and tables, just to name a few. By going out to the donors homes, I feel like we are able to further connect with the people who keep this store thriving. Each donation counts and helps so much toward the building of our Habitat homes, and I love being able to personally thank each donor for their contributions. 

For anyone interested,  we are available to pick up those larger donations every Monday -Wednesday 9am-3pm. Just give us a call to schedule your time, and we will be more than happy to come pick it up. We appreciate all the support our community gives, both through donations and through shopping. We look forward to serving you, and I look forward to meeting more of our Habitat family! 

God bless you!  

Emily F., ReStore Donation Ambassador

Joy's Happy-tat!

We were so happy to give Ms. Joy the keys to her brand new Habitat home on September 10th! She was very rightly named because whenever she is around, joy fills the room, and Thursday afternoon was no exception. To see the sheer happiness on her face as she went into her home for the first time is something everyone there will remember and cherish forever. 

We cannot thank everyone who helped make this possible enough, but we will surely try! We would like to give a special thanks to -

Tony Dunser from True Grit who painted the beautiful red doors and the trim

Savage Tree Service

Mike Williams who did the electrical work

Baldwin Sand and Gravel

Brandon Dozier and Curt Schumacher for helping removing the large tree in the backyard

Lighting Unlimited 

Grass Pro Plus for doing the landscaping

Shane Glasgow

Parker Drywall

Paint Magic

Sqwincher

Rock Bottom Furniture 

Thank you to all the volunteers who worked countless weekends at the job site, our Board Members, ReStore Volunteers and staff, and of course thank you to our fabulous donors and shoppers! You all are the reason this ministry can help provide affordable housing to our homeowners!

Ms. Joy's home will always hold a very special place with me because it was the first home built with me as the new Store Manager, and Joy has become a very dear friend to everyone in the store. It is a great honor to be a part of something that is bettering the lives of others in our community.

God bless you all.

-Emily Godwin, ReStore Manager

Thursday and Friday in the ReStore

 

Hey, everyone! I decided to combine the Thursday and Friday posts because a lot of the same things happen while we are open to the public for sales.

Thursday morning is when we make all the puzzle pieces lock together. From the time we get into the store at 8:00 until we open the doors at 12:00, we stay busy putting final touches on displays, double checking prices on the smaller items, and pricing the large furniture items on the floor. Something a lot of people don’t know is that we research every item that has any kind of identifier on it. If it has brand name on it, we look up that company and then take a considerable amount off the online price.

Every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before we open the doors, we get together as a team. We discuss what each person will be doing in the store while we’re open, discuss any updates on the houses we’re building, and we always close it with a prayer of thanks to the Lord for all the many blessings this ministry continues to see. Once the doors are open, the staff and volunteers go to work helping shoppers. Everyone here has such a passion for helping others and that energy is so contagious that you can’t help smiling when you’re here.

Some things have changed since I took over as store manager, but one thing that will never change is how grateful we are for every shopper and donor that comes to our store. Each of you are such a blessing to us, and we love seeing you guys every week.

 

-Emily Godwin, ReStore Manager.

Wednesday at the ReStore

Wednesday is the busiest day of the week for us here at the ReStore! It's the day the store transforms from a work-in-progress to the beautifully displayed store that you all see Thursdays at 12! It takes a lot of hard work from a lot of people to make it all go as smoothly as it does every week. We are extremely blessed to have such talented volunteers!

Most of the staging in the store is done by two very special volunteers. Shirley and Jennifer come every Wednesday to work their magic in every area of the store. They have such an amazing eye for what works together and how to create and improve the look of every vignette! One of the biggest compliments we get here is how beautiful the store looks, and we make sure to pass that on to them!

On Wednesdays, we have a flawless team in the back working on pricing and putting the merchandise out on the floor. Ms. Barbara, Ms. Deborah, and Ms. Bronwyn are three of our main Wednesday volunteers who help the staff clean, price, and get the donations on the shelves. They all work fabulously as a team, and the ReStore is always a happier place with such wonderful volunteers.

The Assistant ReStore Managers - Chelcee and Matthew -  and our Donation Ambassadors - Kalib, Emily, and Diane - help to make sure that the store is organized and that everything is running smoothly. They take in donations, place furniture, clean the store, and overall help wherever help is needed. Occasionally, we work in a few donation pick-ups on Wednesdays, but we try to stay in store as much as possible because of how much has to happen so quickly! 

We've never had a dull day at the store, and I doubt we ever will! That's what makes working here so much fun!

-Emily Godwin, ReStore Manager.

Tuesday at the ReStore

 Tuesdays are the ReStore are much more fast-paced than Mondays. We try to schedule are largest pick-ups on Tuesdays to make sure we have the large items in the store and ready for the volunteers who help stage the store. This week, we had a donation so large that it took two trips to get it all! I find we are never in short supply of blessings at the Habitat ReStore.

Our Donation Ambassadors spend the majority of Tuesdays out of the store. We fit in as many donation pick-ups as possible on Day 2. Some times we have up to 6 or 7 scheduled in a day. So, if you see the Habitat truck out, make sure to say hi to Kalib, Emily, and Matthew. They are always out on the road picking up great new merchandise!

Inside the store, the volunteers and staff members are working hard to get the new items cleaned and priced. Today they put out 30 shopping carts full of merchandise! With all the hard work being done, it can get a little messy in the store as the new merchandise waits to be processed, but it doesn't bother us. Having a hard time figuring out where to put the items is never a bad problem to have - it's a blessing! 

In between pick-ups and processing, we organize the shelves, work on mark-downs, and test any product that needs to be tested. While organizing, we make sure that no sets of merchandise have been separated and that they aren't due for a price reduction. Price reductions vary on how long the item has been in the store and how many of the item we have it. Our staff and volunteers have been trained to spot when it is time to slash the price and give it a new one.

We also work on disassembling old displays and deciding what items to feature this week instead. It's always fun trying to decide which pieces will look good together and what item makes the look whole! 

Tuesdays are fast-paced, but they're not nearly as action-packed as Wednesdays! Make sure you check back in here tomorrow after we post the Weekly Walk-Through to see how we make the store transform!

-Emily Godwin, ReStore Manager.

Mondays at the ReStore

 Hi, everyone! I decided to do something a little different and post every day this week. I thought it might be fun for you guys to see how we do things during the week to get the store ready for shoppers on Thursday afternoon!

One of the funnest things about working in the ReStore is that every week is a little different. We never know what is going to come through the door or what the Donation Ambassadors may bring back from a pick up. While we may follow the same formula every week, the end result always comes out different. However, thanks to our fantastic volunteers, the results are always beautiful.

Mondays are typically a slower day in the store. The staff members will pull all the large items that sold over the weekend to one area of the store so when their new owners come to pick them up, it's all ready to go. A lot of people have made comments about how we must have furniture stored in the back somewhere to replace all the items that have sold, but we don't! All the furniture we have is on the floor Thursday at noon for everyone to see! We may move things around in the store to display, but nothing is taken out of the back. The Donation Ambassadors start on Monday going out in the community to pick up furniture, boxes of home goods, building supplies, and much more! So all the new things you see during the Sale Hours are all new merchandise!

We do, however, have some  boxes of home goods in the back. We are so blessed by your donations that we can't always get the smaller stuff on the floor the week it comes in, but that doesn't stop us from trying! Every day that we are here, we have at least one person pricing merchandise in our stock room. Monday we start opening more boxes and preparing the merchandise to be priced. If anything needs cleaning, we take it to the kitchen to run it through the dishwasher to be washed good as new. We also bring more boxes of the Christmas items we have stored to be processed, priced, and put on the shelves. 

On days we're not open to the public, we sometimes have up to five people working hard to ensure new merchandise is available every day!

Thank you all so much for believing in our mission to end poverty housing. Every time you donate or shop with us, it helps us save toward building the next house for a person in need! We appreciate each and every one of  you!

-Emily Godwin, ReStore Manager

Christmas in August

Thank you guys so, so much for your patience this year on the Christmas sale! COVID-19 really put a dent in our plans for Christmas in July this year, but we're so happy to be enjoying Christmas in August with all of you.

 It's been such a joy to be surrounded by all the volunteers who have worked so hard to get so many bins of Christmas merchandise sorted, cleaned, priced, and displayed on the shelves. It feels a bit like opening presents when we pull back the lids and see all the new things we have waiting for us to put out for you guys. We still have many bins waiting to be priced, so if you missed the first week, don't worry! We still have a LOT for you to discover in the following weeks! 

Myths and Facts About Habitat for Humanity

 A lot of people have heard of Habitat for Humanity, but they are still uncertain about what we do. To help better understand our organization, here are some common myths about HFH and the truth behind them!

1. Myth: Habitat for Humanity gives houses to poor people.

Truth: Houses are not given to anyone. Habitat for Humanity builds homes with people in need and then sells the houses to the homeowner partners through non-profit loans. Because houses are built principally by volunteers, mortgage payments can be kept reasonable to those unable to obtain conventional financing. Habitat homeowners must invest hundred of hours of "sweat equity" -  that is, time spent building their own home or other Habitat houses.

2. Myth: Habitat builds houses on for minorities.

Truth: Habitat doesn't build homes for anyone. We build houses with people in need, without regard to race. Three criteria drive the family-selection process: need; ability to repay the no-profit mortgage during a 15-to-30 year period; and a willingness to partner with Habitat. The U.S. Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibits discrimination in the sale of housing on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, handicap, familial status or national origin. The covenant that all local Habitat homeowner families are selected "according to criteria that do not discriminate on the basis of race, creed or ethnic background."

3. Myth: Habitat homeowners are on welfare.

Truth: While some Habitat homeowners do receive public assistance, most work at low-wage jobs. Habitat works in good faith with people who often are at risk in society, knowing that owning a home is not the answer to every problem, but that it can be an important step-often the first step-toward helping people who break out of the cycle of poverty.

4. Myth:You have to be a Christian to become a Habitat homeowner.

Truth: HFH was founded as and is a Christian ministry. However, homeowners are chosen without regard to race, creed or nationality-following the requirements of the law as well as Habitat's belief that God's love extends to all. Habitat also welcomes volunteers from all faiths - or no faith - who actively embrace the goal of eliminating poverty housing from the world.

5. Myth: Habitat houses allow people to move from poverty to fancy new houses. 

Truth: Any newly built house is going to be a dramatic change for a family that has been living in a shack, hut, or rundown apartment. But Habitat houses are not extravagant by any standard. Habitat's philosophy is to build simple, decent houses. Under house design criteria approved by Habitat for Humanity International's board of directors, living space in a three-bedroom house, or example, is not to exceed 1,050 square feet.

6. Myth: Habitat for Humanity was founded by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

Truth: Habitat for Humanity International was started in Americus, Ga., in 1976 by Millard Fuller, along with his wife, Linda. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, are longtime Habitat supporters and volunteers who help bring national and international attention to the organization's house-building work. They lead the annual Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project to help build houses and raise awareness of the need for affordable housing. Since the first work project in 1984, more than 2,000 houses have been built in conjunction with Carter Work Project events.

While there are several other myths about HFH that you can search and learn about, I'm going to end with this one.

7. Myth: Poverty is such a large problem that it can never be solved.

Truth: Poverty housing is a huge issue, but Habitat believes that by continuing to build houses with people in need, by working with other committed groups, and by putting the issue of poverty housing in the hearts and minds of compassionate people everywhere, the problem can be solved.

Something I like to say a lot in the ReStore is a quote from Dr. Seuss's The Lorax. It has been my favorite quote for many years, but since starting my career here at the Columbus-Lowndes Habitat for Humanity ReStore, it has taken on a whole new meaning to me.

"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." - Dr. Seuss.

And it's true! I am honored to work with volunteers, staff members, and donors who care a whole awful lot about what happens in our community. It's never too late to help out with the fight against poverty housing. If you don't have the time to volunteer, you can always donate your used items that you no longer have use for. Every item sold in our ReStore goes to building homes or helping repair homes through our Critical Repair ministry. 

Thanks so much for taking time to learn a little more about us!

-Emily Godwin, Store Manager.