Update 5/21:
As our state and local governments begin to reopen, we have been planning how to safely and responsibly bring our stores back to the public and volunteers back to site.
See here for our phased plan to reopen the ReStores.
See here for our phased plan to bring volunteers back to site.
In the meantime, our Habitat staff are working and are available to answer your questions! Our offices are open on modified hours, by appointment only. You may reach us by emailing communications@habitatwake.org or calling 919-833-1999.
Update 3/27:
As of Friday, March 27 at 5:00 pm, all area ReStores will be closed to the public. During this time we will be unable to pick up donations or accept them at our stores. Read more about our ReStore policy changes.
We also have modified office hours during this time: staff will be available to answer phones from 10am-4pm, Monday - Friday. We are discouraging office visitors, but if you need to make an appointment, you can email communications@habitatwake.org.
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Updated 3/25:
Three of our ReStores are closed, and we are no longer sending trucks out to pick up donations.
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Update 3/17:
Given recent escalation in COVID-19 containment efforts, we have decided to stop hosting volunteers on site until the end of April. We will reevaluate then to see if further measures are needed.
The federal government has recommended that we not gather in groups larger than 10, which presents a significant logistical challenge to our construction staff as they work with volunteers on site. Dedicated volunteers make our work possible, but we are striving to balance keeping our community safe and moving our operations forward.
We still have a busy build season ahead of us! So take precautions to stay safe and healthy, take some time to rest up: there will be more than enough work to keep us busy when we are on the other side of this.
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Update 3/12:
As coronavirus cases continue to rise in our community, Habitat Wake is evaluating the progress daily and is creating a contingency plan should our operations need to adapt. We are first and foremost concerned for the health of our staff, homeowners, volunteers and donors. Please see below for the latest updates:
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Habitat Wake will adhere to any recommendations provided by the local government and the CDC.
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Effective immediately, all dedications will be canceled for the month of March. Other events that aren’t essential to our operations will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. We will reevaluate this policy at the end of March.
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Habitat Wake is foregoing a physical Blueprint Breakfast this year, instead choosing to implement an online donation campaign. Stay tuned for ways you can help us make up those critical funds and continue to build affordable homes.
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Volunteering on site will continue as usual, although we ask high-risk individuals to consider staying home for their own safety.
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ReStore operations and donation pick-ups will also continue as usual, with the caveat that our drivers will not go into homes to get pick-up donations: the donations must be set outside.
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We will be making daily evaluations about whether any of our operational contingency plans need to be implemented.
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If you have any questions, please contact communciations@habitatwake.org
We must also acknowledge that, while the economic repercussions of this unprecedented event are still unknown, public health crises like these have an outsized effect on our most vulnerable populations. We serve families who work in retail, food service, medicine and more. Our homeowners will be adversely affected, and we will work to support them in whatever ways we can.
This is an uncertain time for everyone, and we are continually thankful for our partners and supporters as we face this new challenge together as a community.
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Update 3/6: With a recent confirmed case of coronavirus in Wake County, we are actively monitoring these fast-moving developments and are preparing plans should our operations need to adapt to the situation. Our first concern is the safety of all our staff, homeowners and volunteers, and we will make plans with that as our priority.
Our upcoming Global Village trip to Honduras has been canceled, but otherwise, we are moving forward with business as usual, with some additional safety measures: we have increased the number of handwash stations on build sites and are looking into additional hand sanitation stations for our ReStores.
If there are any changes or updates, we will update our statement here. Please reach out if you have any concerns!