Habitat for Humanity Re Store

As a past volunteer I would personally like to say how great Habitat for Humanity was for me, I loved it and was happy to be helping for a great cause. I was part of a team of students who assisted with their move from argentia to dixie and derry area which was a fun, but tough and time consuming process that ultimately taught me many new skills such as painting, dolly/weight handling experience, drywall, skid management, assembly skills, as well as teamwork. Habitat for Humanity Restore is a warehouse type store that operates to give all proceeds to the house building projects in this and surrounding major cities. As you may know, they are a charitable organization who builds homes for families who could not afford to buy or build them on their own. This is an expensive process with all the materials, the land, man power (contractors), furnishings and all the other hidden costs that come with building a new house. Working at the Restore I would help unload trucks, move furniture/appliances, sell said furniture and appliances, and even assist the customers in getting their purchased items into their cars. Overall it was a very rewarding experience with great management, clear direction, and a positive working environment and I would personally recommend this for anyone looking to get a bit more workforce experience or even if you would like to spice up your resume, this is a great experience and I'm glad I was able to enjoy it.

The staff is alright, definitely some people who are kept around just cause they are a favourite. But the issue is the store managers, they're bad at their jobs. It would make numerous customers furious but half the time the managers leave early, take a day off, etc so you have to deal with it. If you get hired as an associate you will be pressured into doing literally almost everything from going and helping on the truck to being the cashier, and yes they still pay you $16/h to be a truck swamper. They will let customers harass, be aggressive, or flat out call you a slur and nothing will be done cause that customer could possibly come back, and the company doesn't want to ''lose traffic''. There's an extremely weird tension between the two stores, and it gets really old fast. Just an uncomfortable place in general I would advise you to stay clear of.

The Hanover assistant manager is a good man to work for/with, there is very little interference from head office in Owensound unless you're doing something wrong. They are not open or forthcoming other than the pay's being on time there is little to rely on. There are two annual get togethers one is employee day, usually on October with all three stores, (Hanover, Owensound and Port Elgin) being present and if you are a praise my efforts person, this will be the only day where you will experience this. The second is a small end off year get together. Over all it is relatively stress free place as long as you can let customer complaints go over your head.

The company itself I suppose was decent; the management was horrible. Not only within the store but much higher up. Majority of the problems stem from broken communication between management and their higher ups, leading to extremely high turnover and blatant lack of regard for staff working conditions. The higher ups will make promises and then turn around and say they never said such things. You will be pushed to the physical limit and yet still be demanded to do more. Management will preach that the store is all one but will divide you and punish you for interacting. 
They will preach for you to "Be creative, use your imagination." But also completely disregard any ideas you propose; if they don't they will take credit for your idea and hard work.
Mental health is as taboo a topic as pay rate with this company.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The community is very welcoming and good at training new recruits.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
There is a large inventory so it takes time to get to know where everything is located.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
You get to work with great people moving furniture, helping customers and keeping the store tidy and clean.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Doing inventory, helping customers, taking new donations, fixing donated furniture and keeping the store clean.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Coworkers. Team environment. Customers, well good customers and regulars you get to know.


What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Dealing with management. Trying to talk down irate customers. Shoplifters.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Good with store level. Management is a mess. Build side of things is the media darling. Store gets forgotten in the mix.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Engaging customers. Warehousing, staging furniture. Loading and unloading.

Worked there as a volunteer doing filing, data entry and solicitation for golf tournament (recruiting golfers, sponsors and prizes).  I learned that I was not too bad at recruiting golfers, sponsors and prizes for their golf tournament.  I was told that I had collected the most prizes of all the people they had doing that job.  The people that I worked with were very helpful and friendly.  The hardest part of the job was the location - good walk from the bus stop.  The most enjoyable part was how the Re-Store helped collect money through selling used items to build a new home for people.

I had volunteered at Habitat for over 50 hours and had enjoyed every moment of it. All the staff are very nice and were able to teach me everything I needed to know to succeed at my job. The work is tough  physically, but it never felt like too much and there were always breaks to take the edge off. It was a completely non-toxic work environment with everybody being friends with everyone else, it always brought my mood up to come over to the Restore and see everyone so happy.

I worked as receiver the first few months. We would get in a wide variety of goods to price and sent to the floor. Next I started as Appliance Technician, we had a variety of different appliances come in to be checked out and repaired. When I wasn’t busy repairing appliances I would be helping out in receiving. The best part of the job was that it was always changing and always there would be something challenging come up.

Well firstly one never really knows what to expect from hour to hour but as long as one is willing to work, be friendly and friends with coworkers (be they volunteers or employees), show appropriate respect towards and willingness to learn from those who've been working here longer than oneself than one will enjoy oneself. If one doesn't know how to do something do not be ashamed to ask for help. I've been with Habitat for years and I'm still learning.

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