If you go
o What: Habitat for Humanity store and office grand opening.
o Where: 10811 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd., Vancouver.
o Events and times: Ribbon cutting and opening: 9 a.m. Friday. Building Industry Association remodelers garage sale: starts 8 a.m. Saturday. Weekend Warriors live radio broadcast: 10 a.m. to noon Saturday.
o Contact info: Store: 360-213-1313 or www.pdxrestore.org. Evergreen Habitat office: 360-737-1759 or www.ehfh.org.
The big-windowed building near the corner of Southeast Mill Plain and Interstate 205 used to sell used cars for profit. Now it sells used and donated building materials, and folds the revenues into the construction of new homes for the working poor.
As of Friday, what used to be the Curt Warner Chevrolet showroom at 10811 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd., Vancouver, will be the home of Habitat for Humanity in Clark County. Local businessman and philanthropist Steve Oliva bought the building earlier this year and has given Habitat a charitably sweet deal on the rent, executive director Josh Townsley said.
If you go
o What: Habitat for Humanity store and office grand opening.
o Where: 10811 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd., Vancouver.
o Events and times: Ribbon cutting and opening: 9 a.m. Friday. Building Industry Association remodelers garage sale: starts 8 a.m. Saturday. Weekend Warriors live radio broadcast: 10 a.m. to noon Saturday.
o Contact info: Store: 360-213-1313 or www.pdxrestore.org. Evergreen Habitat office: 360-737-1759 or www.ehfh.org.
A grand opening and ribbon cutting are set for 9 a.m. Friday. At 11 a.m. there will be a complimentary barbecue on site. And starting at 8 a.m. Saturday, Habitat will host a Building Industry Association remodelers garage sale; from 10 a.m. to 12 noon there will be a live in-store radio broadcast of the Weekend Warriors Home Improvement Show on KPAM, AM 860.
“The building is big and bright with plenty of room for all kinds of great donated materials. We’re just off the freeway, and I really think our shoppers and donors will love visiting our new store,” said store manager Steven Donovan.
Habitat for Humanity has been known for years as a charity homebuilder, keeping overhead low and enlisting its clients to contribute “sweat equity” to the building of their own new, affordable homes.
What’s newer and less well known is the storefront arm of Habitat, which sells recycled and donated building materials, appliances, furniture and other home improvement items at bargain-basement prices.
There are Habitat stores in Portland and Beaverton, too. Last year the three local stores diverted more than 3,500 tons of materials from landfills.
Evergreen Habitat for Humanity, the Clark County homebuilding branch, was long located in a small standalone office on West 33rd Street, while the Habitat store was in a strip mall on Fourth Plain; now the two have merged on this prominent East Vancouver corner. Habitat officials are hoping the location will drive more retail sales as well as more awareness of Habitat’s overall mission.
Evergreen Habitat for Humanity has built 29 homes and served 78 families in Clark County since 1991.
