By Danny Mendl

Talk with ReStore Core Volunteer Bryan Bennett for long enough and you’ll get the sense that creating things is a core component of who he is. It’s fitting, then, that his volunteer work with Asheville Habitat helps to create opportunity and stability for new and existing homeowners in and outside of Asheville.

When COVID-19 hit in 2020, Bryan and his partner left their home in Brooklyn to seek a change after years in the city. They found it in Canton, North Carolina, where they eventually moved after growing attached to the area and its natural beauty. An interior designer with an M.F.A. in sculpture, Bryan left his full-time trade behind in New York City and now spends his time running an independent online retailer, tending to his garden, creating art, and volunteering.

Living 20–30 minutes outside of Asheville, Bryan sought volunteer opportunities as a means of spending time outside of Canton, engaging with new people, and giving back to the community. Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity was fortunate enough to be the first nonprofit he signed up to volunteer with, and for the past 3+ years he’s been a constant presence in the Asheville ReStore’s donation lane on Tuesday afternoons. Having no prior experience with Habitat for Humanity, Bryan says, “I really couldn’t even tell you if there was a Habitat in New York City — Asheville Habitat was my first exposure to the work they do.”

In the time since he started with Asheville Habitat, Bryan has not only grown familiar with Habitat for Humanity’s mission, but also become an advocate for it. “Most of my ‘proselytizing’ happens when I meet people who have misconceptions about Habitat’s work: that it’s giving out free homes, or that people don’t work for a new home. I try to let them know how the programs really operate, that they do great work in the community,” he shares.

Beyond helping in the Asheville ReStore’s receiving and processing zone, Bryan has participated in a few jobs with our Deconstruction team, extracting useable materials from local homes and businesses for resale at the ReStore, as well as helping run the ReStore registers when needed. But when asked what brings him back to the donation lane every Tuesday, Bryan praises the enthusiasm and engagement he finds at the ReStore. “The vibe, it’s the energy here,” he says. “People are happy to be here — or at least have a good attitude about it. Donors dropping things off will say, ‘Thank you for being here!’ And I’ll say, ‘Thank you for being here!’”

Though he no longer works full-time as an interior designer, Bryan continues to take clients on the side — mostly friends — and works hands-on in remodeling projects with a handiness he credits to his father, a carpenter. In the Asheville ReStore’s donation lane, his experience in design drew him to the bins of donated lighting, where he spends downtime testing and hanging fixtures for sale, as well as collecting loose or unhoused crystals from damaged chandeliers for his sculptural work. When his partner set about opening a new dessert bar in West Asheville, Potential New Boyfriend, Bryan took on the task of bringing the interior to life, even purchasing some of the decor from the ReStore. Today, one of his favorite finds from the store hangs inside the bar: a mirror, framed by wood-carved swans on each side.

If you were to ask him about his most valued ReStore treasure, however, he would point you to his motorcycle: an 1100cc Honda Shadow Spirit, the exact same model he once owned in Brooklyn. He purchased it from the front patio of the Asheville ReStore in June of 2022, with proceeds from the bike, like all ReStore sales, funding Asheville Habitat’s New Home Construction and Home Repair programs. What was once too much bike for the crowded, slow streets of New York City is now perfect for the green hills of Interstate 40, carrying him to and from his volunteer work on any warm and sunny Tuesday.

 

Interested in volunteering at the Restore? Click here to learn more.

Meet Sherry and Wendy, two best friends who worked together as educators and continue to work together as volunteers. Sherry introduced Wendy to the ReStore, and together they turn customers into new volunteers and volunteers into new friends. Learn more about their experiences at Asheville Habitat and what brings them back to the Asheville ReStore every Thursday in the video below.

 

 

Janis Rose, who has a dry, acerbic wit that belies her good-natured friendliness, has been volunteering at the ReStore long enough that the start of her time with Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity is a distant memory.

“It’s been five… six years? Five years,” she recalls, “Actually, I was a full-time volunteer a long time ago, working on the trucks. That was eons ago, though.”

Since beginning her recent streak of volunteer service in 2019, Janis has become something of a fixture at the Asheville ReStore. In fact, she ranked #4 in top volunteer hours across the entire affiliate in 2023, dedicating 577 hours of her time to Habitat’s work. When congratulated on it, she gives a raised eyebrow and a cheeky, “yeehaw.”

Many of her hours in the ReStore, if not most, are spent handling holiday décor. Donations of seasonal decorations are a constant throughout the year, and with correspondingly seasonal demand, the accumulated goods can eventually grow out of control. When the flow of holiday items began to necessitate consistent oversight, Janis took on the challenge. On Mondays, while the store is closed to customers, she stocks the upper showroom’s holiday corner in preparation for upcoming celebrations. Sometimes she’s joined by her beloved beagle, Teak, who naps under the warm glow of the skylights while she works.

When there is no holiday to which she can tailor the shelves, she works with fellow volunteers to orchestrate the sorting and storing of goods in the basement. Though it may sound like a casual affair, the steady accumulation of holiday donations inevitably requires a labor-intensive mid-year purge of the surplus. If you have walked out of the Asheville ReStore with a $5 box of ornaments and decor during our annual “Christmas in July” sale, you can thank Janis for that.

Despite her consistency and dedication to the work, she says it’s not the Christmas decorations that keep her volunteering with the ReStore.

“The best part about volunteering at the ReStore is the people,” Janis shares, “The people, and doing incredibly good work for a great cause. Every day I’m grateful that I have a home, and I’m so grateful that we’re able to help provide that for others.”

When she’s not volunteering with the ReStore, Janis spends her time gardening and informally volunteering in her community, helping neighbors with personal projects and transportation.

“I do wear my Habitat hat and my shirt to show people that I’m proud that I work with an institution that provides good service,” she says, “and I feel like telling people, ‘go get it at [the ReStore] instead of paying, you know, $30 or $40 for something new.’”

 

 

Though speaking to John Harvin may not give you the impression of someone who craves the spotlight (even if he’s been featured in our Volunteer Spotlight before), he continues to distinguish himself in his volunteer service. Last year, John logged a total of 727 volunteer hours, more than any other volunteer with Asheville Habitat in 2023. He would likely be the first to point out that it’s no competition (every bit of volunteer help counts, after all), but even he was surprised by his yearly total.

“I only put in two or three hours a day,” he explains.

A humble protest from a man who volunteers Monday through Friday.

John has been volunteering with the Asheville Habitat ReStores since 2015, working his way through box after box of donated hardware and tools alongside his fellow volunteers. By now, he has probably processed enough hardware to fill the average Home Depot, but he still finds the fun in it.

“[It’s] just so much fun,” John shares, “you never know what’s going to come in. I especially enjoy getting old tools, cleaning them up and looking up what people have used or sold them for—things like that. It’s almost like archeology, digging into the past.”

Despite this, it’s not the excitement of the treasure hunt that brings him back every weekday morning. Like Janis, John finds himself drawn to Habitat by the importance of the work and the community that has formed around it.

“Number one, what a great organization, the work they do,” he says, “Number two, you get a chance to work with a lot of really fun people… Not only with the volunteers, but the employees, too. Such a great group of people. It’s fun to come in in the morning and have everyone know your name.”

Read John’s original Volunteer Spotlight here.