What’s a “social enterprise”? & can a business exist to do “good”?
The ReStore in Forest Grove, Oregon is part of West Tuality Habitat for Humanity, which is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization as registered with both the state of Oregon and the federal government. But the ReStore does have a goal of making a profit. So how can both be true?
The funds raised from ReStore sales first fund the expenses of running the ReStore, and then the profits - what’s left over from those expenses - help to fund and otherwise support West Tuality Habitat for Humanity in its work to promote affordable housing, undertake critical home repairs and promote housing equity in Western Washington County, including Forest Grove, Cornelius, Gales Creek, Gaston, Banks, Timber, and North Plains.
But the ReStore is more than just a fundraising tool; it’s also one of West Tuality Habitat’s primary ways of interacting with the community: the public can stop by the ReStore to pick up forms to apply for help through our repair program or to read about the mission of Habitat and about its upcoming events, like Habitat University events to train volunteers to work on our construction sites. The ReStore space is used by our construction and repair volunteers for tools and material storage and, sometimes, for resources they need in their work. The space behind the ReStore is a building site for our construction team and a place where we can host our Habitat University events.
The ReStore also embraces certain ethical and environmentally-friendly business practices. For instance, we also hope to help keep our community green by encouraging people to donate and shop with us to prevent thousands of pounds of materials going to landfills every year and to reduce the need for items to be shipped from afar. We also partner with other agencies to be a recycling point for electronics and paint.
The volunteers in the ReStore, working alongside paid staff, are a mix of local people wanting to give back to their communities or who are curious about our work, of students wanting to explore careers and build professional skills, of people with disabilities who use volunteering to build their social skills, and people who are completing court-mandated community service. For some volunteers, its a way to build their skills for paid work elsewhere.
The ReStore doesn’t quite meet the definition of a social enterprise, since it is operated entirely under the auspices of West Tuality Habitat for Humanity. But the ReStore is a lot like one. The Annie E. Casey Foundation says that Social enterprises are revenue-generating businesses with a mission. By mission, the foundation means a mission to do good: to help a nonprofit, to help specific types of nonprofits, or to help a variety of charities and social causes. Some of the most well known social enterprises are Newman’s Own, a food company founded by actor Paul Newman that produces a lot of delicious products and that donates its profits to charity, and Ben & Jerry’s, which is a very famous ice cream company that has long been associated with environmental and social causes, like campaigns for fair wages.
Social enterprises also operate with an eye to ethics and social good, like working to reduce their environmental impact, supporting the continuing education of their staff, and inclusive employee recruitment programs that target those people who often face additional barriers to finding employment and upward mobility. The Habitat ReStore model reduces the need for the production of new furniture and reduces further stress on our limited supply of natural resources and fuel to transport those items. Habitat ReStores extend the value of quality, new and used furniture and household items and limits unnecessary waste, decreasing our collective carbon footprint. And, as previously mentioned, we encourage the recycling of paint and electronics.
The ReStore also welcomes customer feedback, which we use to improve our operations and our communications.
Shout out to the ReStore of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in Canada for its excellent web page on this subject.
