- May 2, 2024
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After over seven years of renting, the Flagler Habitat for Humanity Restore has purchased its Palm Coast store building at 5 Hargrove Grade.
The store is one of two Habitat Restore locations in Flagler County, the other is located at 2 West Moody Boulevard in Bunnell. Flagler Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Lindsay Elliott said Habitat was renting the building until next year.
"We learned that the owners were going to sell and so we asked if they would entertain us first," Elliott said. " And they did and we were able to come to an agreement and purchase the building. quite short order.
After purchasing the building, Elliott said Flagler Habitat took the opportunity to give the store a face lift and really make it their own, inside and out.
Flagler Habitat is celebrating the reopening of its Palm Coast location with an open house from 5-6:30 p.m. on March 12.
"Now that it's ours, we feel like we're never going to move from here," Elliott said. "So we can start to really put our touch on it."
Habitat for Humanity is an international nonprofit that works to build homes across the world for people in need. Flagler Habitat works locally, Elliott said, within the community and with community volunteers.
Store manager Paul Hunt said a Habitat Restore has been in Flagler County in some form for close to 30 years. It was important to everyone at Flagler Habitat and the Restore, he said, that the store's aesthetic and curb appeal should match the nonprofit's mission.
"The biggest challenge here was trying to put a retail organization in a place that maybe doesn't have the best visual appeal," Hunt said. "Our mission is so strong that we felt that we would draw the public and fill a need."
Hunt said the Restore accepts a broad band of donations, from furniture to home items to even a bronze statue someone once donated. The goal is to diversify the Restore's services and goods, he said, and offer more to their customers.
Profit from the Restore goes directly into Flagler Habit's administrative costs and local projects, Elliott said. All the money benefits the same community people are donating from.
Flagler Habitat representative Kim Lohta said Flagler Habitat hopes to bring more awareness to the community through the open house about what Habitat and the Restore locations can do for Palm Coast and Flagler County residents.
"It's just letting people know that this facility exists here in Palm Coast," Lohta said. "It's just an awareness and letting people know that we're here and we're open for business."
Community is a main part of Flagler Habitat's goals. Elliott said Habitat for Humanity is well known for its work building and repairing homes for people in need, but the nonprofit does much more.
In south Bunnell in 2016, Elliot said, Flagler Habitat was a driving force in getting mail boxes installed and delivered to when Flagler Habitat found residents were not having their mail delivered. Flagler Habitat has also worked on neighborhood revitalization projects, like installing a walking trail at the Carver Gym and a community garden, she said.
"What we're able to do now, especially through the Restore, is working to tie the restore with the Habitat mission," Elliott said. "We are not separate entities. We are one."
