Habitat for Humanity opens new office in McHenry

Habitat for Humanity of McHenry County celebrated the opening of a new office in McHenry with the McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce.

The celebration on Thursday took the form of a ribbon-cutting, and saw several volunteers and other chamber members make an appearance, Chamber President Molly Ostap said.

President Jerry Monica said the office is to help expand what the organization can do. For 10 years, it’s been working out of Church of the Holy Apostles in McHenry. After trying to reconfigure it, they came to terms with having outgrown it.

To add onto that, in Woodstock, the organization has a warehouse, Monica said. That, along with the administration services that were being run out of the church, will be run in the new building.

“It’s going to help in the long run,” Monica said.

Habitat for Humanity also has two thrift shops in town that offer building materials, called ReStores, one of which is located next door to its new office in McHenry. The second one is out of Woodstock, Monica said. The new building will help those as well, since now they can sort pallets and materials at the new building rather than at the shops themselves.

As part of the event, those in attendance were treated to refreshments and a building tour, Ostap said.

“The turnout was fantastic,” Ostap said. “It’s a wonderful thing for our community to have.”

Monica gave credit to his team for putting it together.

“They did such an awesome job of getting things organized,” he said.

Ostap said Habitat for Humanity, in addition to being an organization known for serving those in need of housing, has been an active member in the community and chamber as well. It has hosted a lot of sponsorships, she said.

“You think about what they do for the community, but they’ve been so good for the community in general,” she said. “They’re a great member of the chamber.”

Monica agreed. He said for years Habitat for Humanity’s goal has been centered around how many houses are built. Now, it’s about how many people have been helped. And with affordable housing in short supply in the area, he said, it’s important to work with other organizations to help remedy the problem.

“It’s very important for us to have a social presence and tap into volunteers,” he said.