Habitat for Humanity ReStore Re-Opens Thursday-Sunday in Joliet

Great news, the Will County Habitat for Humanity ReStore has re-opened aT 1395 N. Larkin Avenue in Joliet. The store is open to seniors from 10a-11am and to the public from 11am-5:30pm Thursday, Friday, & Saturday. The store had been closed due to Covid-19 restrictions the last couple of months.

In other news, Will County Habitat for Humanity hosted its first Virtual Home Dedication. The home dedication kicked off with “As we all watch from this from our homes, we are reminded that our homes are our safe place”. A Home Dedication is a celebration of all that Habitat for Humanity is all about.
The dedication is a gathering of all the volunteers, donors, Habitat partners, board members, and staff that were a part of providing the dream of homeownership to the deserving family. The deserving family receives a hand up from all that are involved in constructing their home, not a hand out. They don’t receive a free house. They work a minimum of 250 sweat equity hours on their home, attend financial and homeownership classes, and pay an affordable mortgage. The
Habitat Homebuyers are invested in the process of obtaining the dream of homeownership. Before Covid-19 a typical home dedication would have 30 to 40 people on site at the dedication.
The “virtual” home dedication has already had 245 attendees. Nicole Murray, Executive Director shared, it is exciting to see that so many people took the time to be a part of the home dedication on-line. As much as we have felt challenged by this pandemic crisis, good things have come out of it. We have found that being at home has allowed many of to reconnect and appreciate one another a little more. We knew how valuable our volunteers, donors and partners were, but have
realized how the need for them is so much greater, because without them we can’t provide affordable housing.
We as an organization don’t know exactly where we stand on the spectrum of the community supporting our mission through a pandemic crisis. What we do know is that we have a waiting list of families that are living in hotels, cars, overcrowded situations and homes that are in disrepair. This pandemic has only increased the need for decent, affordable housing and the important contribution that Habitat for Humanity provides our community. If you would like to
support the mission of Habitat for Humanity in addressing this critical need that are numerous opportunities:
• Consider making a monetary donation- log on to habitatwill.org. There is an opportunity to
receive 50% of your donation back through the Illinois Tax Credit Program with the Illinois
Housing Development Authority- contact Gina Glasgow at [email protected]
• After purging your home through COVID-19 donate your items to the ReStore
call 815-714-7100 to schedule a pick up
• Volunteer at our ReStore or on our build sites- call Ellie Roth at [email protected]
• Shop at our ReStore- it is our largest fundraiser; it is a donation center that sells donated
clearance/outlet merchandise for the home at a fraction of the price.
• Share all the good that Habitat is doing in our community and through our ReStore.
For more information on Will Habitat for Humanity log on to habitatwill.org