By Aurora Hadsock, HR Director of The Repurpose Project
Imagine you’ve got a DIY project around the house. Instead of heading straight for the big box hardware store, what if there was a local nonprofit alternative that provided valuable building materials to the community at good prices and prevented construction waste from ending up in landfills? If that sounds like an appealing addition to the neighborhood, you are in luck. The Repurpose Project is moving and expanding its reuse hardware store (and you might be surprised to hear where).
Renovator Reuse, our third and newest reuse store, currently sits on the same block as The Repurpose Project but tucked away in a small rented warehouse. Since opening in May we’ve been happily connecting DIYers, handy folks, first-time home owners and seasoned pros with the materials to make their projects happen. From day one we knew the rented space was too small and not able to accommodate the vast volume and broad range of reusable building material available, but the rent was what we could manage and a great start. Days before our grand opening, we learned that the property consisting of two large buildings nestled between The Repurpose Project and Satchel’s Pizza was for sale and we knew the opportunity was too potent to pass up.
As one might guess, a growing city like Gainesville generates a tremendous amount of construction waste. These materials—which often go straight to the landfill—have the potential to be repurposed into countless projects. In this new location, Renovator Reuse can house and offer an even larger selection of low-cost building materials, reducing what ends up in the dump and giving people an alternative to big box hardware stores.
The high cost of building supplies is often a barrier for people looking to maintain or repair their house, and the upgrades and beautification projects that make it feel like a home can be well out of reach. The Repurpose Project aims to provide materials at affordable prices so folks have a better chance to access the resources they need.
You’ll find plenty of the basics, but some of the materials we are able to salvage range from quirky to truly inspiring. There’s a little of everything, from one-of-a-kind items like beautiful heart pine beams and antique door knobs to everyday needs like hammers, nails, faucets and fasteners.
In addition to the expanded hardware store, this property purchase also paves the way for a designated donation processing center that can support all three of our stores. Perhaps strangely, one of the biggest challenges is that we often receive more materials than we can process at once due to our limited space. Currently, The Repurpose Project location is so overcrowded that even finding room to sort the next donation is a struggle.
We are excited to improve our infrastructure for receiving, processing and storing donations. This will help us rescue more of the valuable materials that would otherwise wind up wasted but also, excitingly, an improved donation facility will improve working conditions for our dedicated staff. Imagine a paved donation drop off with roof coverage to protect staff, donors and donations from the rain and sun. And imagine a climate controlled sorting and processing warehouse designed for carts that would ease the physical strain on staff. These improvements will help us take better care of our people, which is a priority for us. Our model is rooted in the idea that reuse can be a sustainable economic system in itself—one that provides meaningful, stable jobs for the community.
We are thrilled to be under contract to purchase the property at 1814 NE 23rd Ave. The future is always unknown but as we approach the closing date we are feeling confident that our expansion will become a reality and we are feeling so very grateful.
We are grateful to the private lenders who are making the purchase possible with their investments. (In a humbling show of faith, the building loan is held by community members instead of a bank.)
We are grateful to our staff for their incredible work and willingness to keep innovating as we grow. Their patience and literal sweat make our operation possible.
And, we are grateful to you, our community, for your support, your donations and your business. In fact, if you’re curious how you can help out with the new expansion, the simplest answer is the best one. Buy used! By shopping with us and all the other amazing reuse businesses in town, you are keeping new stuff out of production, your dollars local and reusable material flowing off the store shelves and back into the community where they can be used and appreciated. That helps us expand reuse and create the better world we imagine!