Congrats to our friends over at Home ReSource, as they have officially purchased the building to continue serving our sustainable & enthusiastic community for years to come!
Official Press Release:
Missoula, Montana (March 18, 2016) – Home ReSource is a building materials reuse center
that relies entirely on donations from the community to operate its retail business. As such, the
non-profit business rarely buys anything. But Home ReSource recently made the purchase of a
lifetime, buying the entire site at the corner of Russell & Wyoming where the organization is
currently located.
Katie Deuel, Executive Director, explains, “This purchase has been years in the coming, and
represents the culmination of a lot of good work by so many people. We wanted a permanent
home in a central location, and needed enough space to accommodate all aspects of our thriving
retail and deconstruction operations, as well as our growing education and sustainability
initiatives.” Deuel continues, “The community has demonstrated overwhelming support for our
triple bottom line business, and we need space to stretch in order to continue to provide the
community with our sustainable operations and programs.”
Home ReSource was founded in 2003 by Matt Hisel and Lauren Varney, who ran the operation
on a shoestring, an intern’s spare time and a long vision of a different future. By 2008, while the
nation’s financial indicators were heading to their lowest point since the Great Depression, Hisel,
Varney and a group of local citizens and business people were envisioning new highs for our
local economy in which business is a significant driver in building an environmentally and
socially sustainable community.
Members of that group, propelled by Hisel and Varney’s track record and ideas, decided to
invest in a place to house sustainable businesses and ended up purchasing the big blue warehouse
and the surrounding bare ground at the corner of Russell and Wyoming with Home ReSource as
the anchor tenant.
Home ReSource moved there in 2010, and has grown from an organization struggling to make
payroll and fill its big new shoes to one that employs 30 people, diverts over 1000 tons of
materials annually from the landfill, provides job training to people experiencing barriers to
employment and is leading the community in efforts to move Missoula toward Zero Waste.
With Home ReSource busting the seams of its current space configuration, it was time to bust a
move. They approached the original Berkeley United investors Rick Wishcamper, Mike Bouchee
and Justin Metcalf (through Rocky Mountain Development Group), John Rimel, Steve Nelson
and Good Works Ventures about purchasing the entire site. In a heroic act of philanthropy, the
investors provided the equity that Home ReSource needed for a down payment by making a
substantial donation in the form of reduced purchase price.
Deuel confirms that “Berkeley United’s generosity made it possible for us to take this
monumental next step. Berkeley’s investment in Home Resource was ultimately an investment in
this community, and they knew that 8 years ago going in. As the community’s donations and
demand grew the business, we realized it was time to ensure a more secure future for Home
ReSource. We are making good on our investors contributions over the years – from customers
and donors alike – by realizing the original sustainability vision.”
“We are thrilled that the success of Home ReSource is such that they now need the entire
property to fully spread their wings,” says Rick Wishcamper of the Berkeley Group. “And we
couldn’t be happier that our original vision for that site is still alive and well.”
Recently, Home ReSource collaborated with Missoula City Council president Marilyn Marler on
passing the Missoula Zero Waste Resolution, which sets a goal for Missoula to reduce its waste
by 90% by the year 2050 with interim goals along the way. “Home ReSource is a pioneer in
waste reduction in Missoula,” Marler remarks. “They got Missoula moving on the path toward
Zero Waste before Missoula even knew about Zero Waste.”
Home ReSource is a nonprofit organization with a mission to reduce waste and build a vibrant
and sustainable local economy. The building materials reuse center and residential and
commercial deconstruction services support several nonprofit programs that provide job training,
woodworking and home improvement skills building classes, zero waste education, and a
materials giving program to channel building materials to schools, churches, nonprofits, and
community events.
###
Contact:
Jeremy Drake, Community Engagement Manager
Home ReSource, 1515 Wyoming St, Missoula MT 59801
(406) 541-8301
jeremy@homeresource.org
One way for solving numerous medical problems is a online. Minor change in basic lifestyle, another is drugs.
Comments