Volunteer Spotlight: Joe Young

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Joe Young sitting at his desk next to his current sewing machine repair project.

Joe at his desk next to his current repair project.

In November 2021, volunteer Joe Young offered to help combat a growing problem under the Asheville ReStore: sewing machines were piling up in the basement. Despite having minimal experience with the machines, Joe pivoted from large appliance repair and set to work. Today, he is a seasoned sewing machine repairman putting his love for fixing and maintaining tools into a new passion. We sat down with Joe on National Sewing Machine Day to talk about his volunteer work, history, and, of course, sewing machines. Learn more in the video below.

 

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ReStore Volunteer Spotlight: Anne Justice and Lou Towson

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Part-time volunteers and full-time friends, together Anne Justice and Lou Towson sort, curate, and price the enormous volume of jewelry that passes through the ReStore.

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Blue Ridge Service Corps Spotlight: Evan Johnson

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Evan has spent the past nine months as a member of the ReStore’s Deconstruction team, a group of Asheville Habitat staff and volunteers that extract reusable building materials like kitchen cabinets, appliances, and bath installations prior to demolition or remodeling.

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13 Non-Profits Helped by Generosity of ReStore Shoppers in 2021

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When you shop at the Asheville Habitat ReStores and round up your purchase to the nearest dollar, you don’t just support one non-profit, Asheville Habitat– you contribute to the work of a wide range of NPOs meeting myriad community needs. In 2021, thanks to the generosity of shoppers, $25,411 was raised through the Asheville Habitat Register Round Up program and donated to these thirteen non-profits:

  • ABCCM Veteran’s Quarters
  • American Red Cross of WNC
  • Big Brothers Big Sisters of WNC
  • Community Action Opportunities
  • Eagle Market Streets Development Corp.
  • Habitat for Humanity Guatemala
  • Haywood County Schools Foundation
  • Homeward Bound
  • MLK Jr. Association of Asheville & Buncombe County
  • National Alliance on Mental Illness – Western Carolina
  • Our Voice
  • Western Carolina Rescue Ministries
  • Working Wheels

“The ReStore offers a unique opportunity for Habitat to use its platform to support the community in a larger way. Our work is focused on housing, but there are so many agencies doing work that intersects – from transportation and healthcare to disaster relief and community development,” said Scott Bianchi, Manager of the Asheville Habitat ReStore and chair of the ReStore’s Societal Impact Committee. “Asheville Habitat provides the mechanism, but it’s the generosity of our shoppers who make this program successful. All those small incremental donations – 10, 30, 65 cents – they add up to big change.”

Implemented in 2019 to support other non-profits serving our community, the Round Up program raised $11,717 that first year. In 2020, thousands of small, sub-$1 donations from made an even bigger impact with $18,000 raised– even with the Asheville and Weaverville ReStores being closed in April and May due to Covid. Add in the $25,411 from 2021 and the cumulative 3-year total is more than $55,000 raised for area non-profits.

Pam Jaillet, Executive Director of National Alliance on Mental Illness-Western Carolina shared, “Your contribution helps us host local support groups, offer educational presentations, and maintain an office run by volunteers who are in recovery from mental health challenges or who have loved ones with mental health issues. We appreciate your support!”

See below for the Round Up program’s impact across the community in 2021.

2021 Register Round Up Recap

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ReStore Holiday Gift Guide

If you’re struggling with the process of giving this year, consider stopping by the ReStore to try an idea from this guide. The ReStore makes for a reliable source of secondhand gifts that support safe, affordable housing with every purchase. No matter what you buy, your patronage allows us to help more families spend the holidays in the comfort of their own home. How’s that for a gift?

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ReThinking the Holidays

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The holiday season is upon us!  And after rethinking how we do almost everything this past year, many of us now find ourselves rethinking how to do the holidays.  Whether you are staying at home for the first time ever and wondering how to celebrate without gathering, or whether your values no longer align with the traditional consumption and spending-centric holiday model- the ReStore has a few re-thought ideas on how to do the holidays this year… maybe with a little more reuse and home time, and a little less spending and gathering.

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2021 ReStore ReUse Contest Winners Announced

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We are pleased to announce the winners of its tenth annual ReStore ReUse Contest. Entries were judged on quality of design and execution; replicability of concept; clarity of description; and quality of photos.

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Volunteers needed to build largest-ever neighborhood

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We are currently building New Heights, our most ambitious neighborhood to-date, and community volunteers are invited to help build. Take an active role in ensuring everyone has an affordable place to call home by learning new skills or honing existing ones while working alongside community-minded people and future Habitat homeowners.

Asheville Habitat has been bringing people together to build homes, communities and hope for nearly four decades. The reasons people donate their time and talent to Asheville Habitat are as varied as the volunteer themselves. Those who so enjoyed volunteering once on the Women Build House that they keep coming back every week. Those that spent decades in a corporate boardroom and simply want to do something totally different in retirement. Those that work for a company that sponsors Asheville Habitat and therefore have the opportunity to participate in an employee build day. Those that are in high school and learning about our region’s affordable housing crisis. Those putting faith into action by working on a house their church sponsors. How people come to volunteer with Asheville Habitat is wide-ranging. Why they continue to volunteer is the same: Comradery. Meeting the families. Fulfillment. Fun. Making a difference. Feeling part of something bigger.

If you are ready to be the change you want to see in the world, learn more and sign up now or call 828.251.5702. “Volunteers are truly an extension of our staff,” shares Construction Services Volunteer Manager Stephanie Wallace. “We offer year-round opportunities for those age 16+. It’s hard work, but very rewarding. Stepping back at the end of the day, you can SEE the difference you’ve made and feel proud about it.”

If construction isn’t your cup of tea, contact Carrie at 828.210.9381 or cburgin@ashevillehabitat.org to learn about volunteer opportunities in the Asheville and Weaverville ReStores. Proceeds from ReStore sales support Habitat’s building programs, so your volunteer efforts there directly support affordable housing, too. Volunteer positions include customer service, such as running the cash register and providing sales support on the floor; intake and receiving; sorting and processing donations; testing and repairing appliances; and other fun opportunities. Learn more and sign up today!

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Diane Bryson’s Comeback Story

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The epitome of a “when life gives you lemons” story, Asheville Habitat volunteer, Diane Bryson shares about how volunteering with Asheville Habitat has helped make lemonade out of some lemons that life has thrown at her. Her attitude is an inspiration, and her power tools skills aren’t too shabby either!

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Piper’s Perspective

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If you scheduled a donation pick-up by the Asheville ReStore at your home or business sometime in the last 18 years, odds are you probably spoke with Piper Parker, the ReStore’s Scheduling Coordinator. In a recent conversation, Piper offhandedly mentioned, “I remember when I had to ask for step-by-step directions to each home or business, and then communicate the directions for each stop to the truck drivers every day. Things have changed a lot since then.” It was a casual statement, but it brought to mind how much the ReStore has grown and transformed since 2003 when Piper started.

While Piper currently logs around 165 calls each week, or 8,500 calls every year, (and that’s only counting the calls that result in a scheduled truck!), her job hasn’t always been like this. When she first started, she was scheduling about 60 stops a week for one truck, and she was in charge of all volunteer scheduling, as well. Eventually a dedicated Volunteer Coordinator was hired and Piper began to devote all her time to scheduling donation pick-ups by ReStore trucks. One thing is for sure, her old method of hand-writing directions for each pick-up definitely wasn’t going to keep up with the growth trajectory the ReStore was on. Thankfully, over the years Piper has eagerly innovated her process, and with the help of technology, effectively tripled the number of annual donation pick-ups.

Piper Parker

Piper in 2012

After spending her first few years handwriting directions for the truck drivers, Piper heard of a volunteer named Dick Milholland who built a computer program for Asheville Habitat’s Construction Services department. She reached out and asked if it would be possible for him to do the same thing for ReStore truck scheduling. Soon, with Mr. Milholland’s help, Piper began entering directions into the computer which generated a printed multi-page document for the truck drivers to reference each day. Over the next 5 years, the Asheville ReStore would add two more trucks to their fleet, tripling the number of weekly donation pick-ups. GPS systems were also eventually added to the trucks so that Piper was then only printing a one-page list of stops for the drivers each day, without any added directions.

Soon after the addition of the second truck, the ReStore surpassed the $1 million mark in gross revenue, confirming the

Piper Pouring Crete

Piper pouring concrete during a Global Village Trip to Guatemala

importance of expansion and innovation. Higher ReStore revenue meant more families served. With the addition of a third truck, the ReStore began advertising their free donation pick-up service on television and things really picked up! Throughout this period of intense growth, Piper used Mr. Milholland’s homemade program for scheduling trucks until the ReStore upgraded to a Point of Sale (POS) system with built-in scheduling functionality in 2015. Currently the system is so streamlined that the trucks start each day at the farthest point, increasing their weight as they get closer to the ReStore in order to most efficiently use their fuel.

As with everything else, growing into scheduling 165 stops every week has certainly been a process. But Piper Parker has been there, willing to innovate and adapt at every stage.

Piper Parker 1 2003

Piper during her first year with the ReStore 2003

 

Piper will celebrate 18 years with the Asheville ReStore this June. Next time you call to schedule a pick-up, be sure to congratulate her on 18 years of a job well done!

 

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