Habitat for Humanity Niagara is taking the first step towards reopening its operations with a phased approach by reopening its Grimsby ReStore on Tuesday, June 2nd.
“We are determined to reopen our doors to serve our community and continue to make a difference in Niagara,” said Mark Carl, Habitat Niagara CEO. “We are taking a phased approach to do this and have been working diligently to put policies and procedures in place so that we can begin to safely and carefully reopen our organization.”
The non-profit has taken measures to ensure the health and safety of customers and team members is its number one priority. At its Grimsby ReStore, Plexiglass sneeze guards have been installed and a rigorous cleaning protocol has been implemented along with additional measures in compliance with public health protocols.
As an added layer of protection and the recent recommendation by the Public Health Agency of Canada, team members will be wearing face masks, and ask shoppers do the same.
The store will be operating with reduced retail and donation hours over the next few weeks to give the team additional time to clean, sanitize and restock merchandise. The store will be open Tuesday to Saturday 11:00 am to 6:00 pm, and donations can be dropped off Tuesday to Saturday 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
The donation drop-off area will be contact free, they are asking donors to remain in their vehicle while they remove the donations. All donations will be quarantined for 24 hours, cleaned and disinfected prior to being placed for sale in the store. Donations valued over $100 are tax receiptable.
It comes as welcome news for people who have already done their spring cleaning and waited many weeks to drop-off donations, as well as shoppers struggling to make ends meet. Free donation pick-ups will also be available throughout the Niagara region for larger donations, and this too will be contactless.
At this time, all kitchen removals through its salvage program remain on hold, however they will pick-up kitchen cabinets free of charge.
Officials will assess procedures they have in place for the Grimsby ReStore before they begin reopening its two other ReStores in Fonthill and St.Catharines.
As for restarting construction on the single-family house they began building in February in Port Colborne for a single mother of two children, they are in discussion with their partners at the Niagara Peninsula Aboriginal Area Management Board (Indigenous youth Building Futures program) to get the construction site up and running safely.
For more information please visit www.habitatniagara.ca.
