Category: ReStories

  Julie Carter believes in fate. Could it have led her to The ReStore?   In January we welcomed Julie as the new vice president of retail operations for Habitat for Humanity Portland Metro East. She now oversees operations for our four retail stores including sales, Donation Pickup, Business Relations, Volunteer Development, Marketing and Communications […]

In the back room of the Clark County Habitat Store, Chuck Johnson and a team of volunteers resuscitate neglected, sometimes crusty, power tools and equipment and make them hum again. Volunteering is something Chuck first learned to love as a young boy. “I’ve always volunteered – ever since I was a child doing something,” he […]

Family is what drives Josh LaVille, but the cogs in his head are powered by art, music and creativity. “The art and music is where you learn a DIY ethic because nobody is going to do it for you,” he explains. “In art and music you have to do it for yourself…I’m not a craftsman […]

The trials in Kelly Anderson’s life have only served to make her stronger. -Do you have any anecdotes you’d like to share? -Every day is an anecdote!   Kelly is a volunteer at the Gresham ReStore. From the second day we started setting up the store last November, Kelly has been there every week. She […]

Shadanny Lagunas, Jenny Hoang, Sead Mohammed and Daniel Dynes are four of the more than 30 high school students who worked at ReStores in Portland, Beaverton and Gresham through SummerWorks, a program partially funded by the US Department of Labor. The program teaches students job and career preparedness while allowing them to earn wages for working up […]

Shoppers at the Washington County ReStore have come to know Raytonia McIntyre—and often ask for her by name. She takes pleasure in helping others – it’s one of the great joys of her life. But she describes herself as having an old soul, one that is often weighed down by deep sadness, but not hopelessness. […]

Thanh Nguyen has a plan. Crafted on a random piece of paper at a Habitat build site, this plan is his future…and it’s a great one. In 2010, Thanh and his parents traveled from Vietnam to the United States. Thanh says for him it meant a better education, a chance, an opportunity to become whatever […]

After a few years sampling a musician’s life in Atlanta, New York and Chicago, Joseph Drushal found his way to Portland. What drew him here was its enthusiastic spirit of activism. Joseph is the Gresham ReStore’s new assistant manager. He grew up in the Akron area, and then began exploring the east coast making his […]

There’s no doubting Jose Rodriguez’s determination. He’s been working diligently at the Portland ReStore since January, every night, Monday through Friday, and then at a Habitat build site most Saturdays in an effort to complete his required sweat equity hours. Jose and his wife Lidia are future Habitat homeowners. Their story begins in Mexico. Jose […]