Habitat for Humanity of Sangamon County is well known for creating and maintaining housing for the community through new construction, providing wheelchair ramps for accessibility and offering critical repairs to address urgent plumbing issues and roof damage. The organization draws hands-on construction professionals and laypeople as volunteers.
With a dozen employees and a team of volunteers, the Habitat ReStore is one of 750 community thrift stores operated by Habitat for Humanity throughout the US, in Canada and in Japan, according to executive director Colleen Stone.
"I'm told on a consistent basis that people love to shop here because volunteers and employees are extremely friendly, and it's always like a treasure hunt. You never know what you might find," said Stone. With everything from used appliances, furniture, tile and flooring to a full drum set, or a professional massage/pedicure chair complete with foot-soaking unit, to books, record albums, a wooden cuckoo clock, ice skates, an angel food cake pan or badminton racket, the ReStore aims to please.
With a mission of sustainability, the Sangamon County ReStore is proud to have diverted 585 tons from the waste stream in the past year by processing, reusing and redirecting items from nearly 10,000 donations, according to Stone.
Habitat provides pick-up and drop-off service for donations in good condition that can be resold through the ReStore and also has contracts with both the city of Springfield and Sangamon County for non-hazardous large items which need to be discarded.
For those who cannot bring items to the donation center behind the store on South Sixth Street, Habitat manages a fleet of trucks and volunteers who can pick up bulky items, like furniture and mattresses, appliances and surplus building materials, by appointment.
