Revamp, revival at Habitat
Jan. 13—In 2012, the Palouse Habitat for Humanity opened a surplus sale store in Moscow. The store was run entirely by volunteers and open a few days a week, selling donated home improvement supplies to fund homes the volunteers build in both Whitman and Latah counties.
Jennifer Wallace, the executive director of the Palouse Habitat for Humanity, said in the beginning they had tested the store idea out of shipping containers in a Pullman parking lot before deciding to open the physical store at 304 N. Main St.
The store originally opened in 3,400 square feet of the building owned by Jim and Dawn Fazio, who made the rent affordable for them, Wallace said.
"It's grown into our largest fundraiser," Wallace said.
In 2019, the Fazios sold the entire building to Palouse Habitat for Humanity to be taken over when the pair fully retired. By 2023, construction had started to expand the furniture section into the former location of Woodland Catalog, thus connecting the entire building.
A grand opening of the renamed Palouse Habitat for Humanity ReStore was scheduled for today, but has been canceled due the weather, Wallace said. The event will be rescheduled in the coming months.
With the $15. million construction by Springer Construction completed, Wallace said the store has been able to spread out the donated goods available for purchase by the public.
Funding for the remodel and expansion came from the Beatriz and Edmund Schweitzer Foundation, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, The Murdock Charitable Trust, Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation, the Latah County Community Foundation and individual contributions. Wallace said they had also received building supplies from local businesses for the remodel.
"We appreciate the donors who've made this project possible," Wallace wrote in an email.
The new store has new carpet, fresh paint, updated ada accessibility and the new name.
Wallace said with the new addition the store is about three times larger and will continue to sell only donated items from the community.
All profits from the store help pay for construction of the houses the Palouse Habitat builds for families on the Palouse.
Wallace said on average it costs $250,000 to build the homes, the money covering the purchase of land and materials. Volunteers and the future homeowners donate labor.
"We want to add to the permanent population of affordable housing," Wallace said.
Applications for the next Habitat house located in Moscow are open, Wallace said and they hope to break ground as soon as a house in Palouse is finished. Each house takes months to complete and Wallace said if all goes smoothly they might be able to build two houses in 2024.
"We couldn't do what we do without the volunteers," Wallace said.
The Moscow house will be built as a partnership with the Moscow Affordable Housing Trust. Wallace said in this partnership, the land will be owned by the Trust and Habitat for Humanity will build the house. For information on how to apply visit palousehabitat.org/apply.
Nelson can be reached at knelson@dnews.com.
