Rediscovery is a closely held value for Rebuilding Exchange, a construction material reuse store in Evanston. At the establishment’s storefront, customers can find reclaimed wood, sinks, doorknobs, light fixtures and other large or little items that are looking for a new home. 

Rebuilding Exchange is also a nonprofit that sells reclaimed home renovations goods, provides sustainable deconstruction services and free, paid workforce training programs. 

“Our mission is achieved when objects can be reused,” Director of Social Enterprise Nika Vaughan said. “The things that come to us are fixtures that are very long lasting, quality made. And when another person buys it, the cycle has been completed.”

When longtime customer Kate Thomas moved into her apartment in a 1920s-era building in Chicago, she said there had been damage to the original kitchen flooring. She either needed to match about 4 square feet of the original hardwood flooring or replace the entire floor, she said. 

Thomas said Rebuilding Exchange had the exact materials she needed. She was able to replace the section of hardwood flooring with wood flooring Rebuilding Exchange pulled and repurposed from the old Masonic Lodge in Wilmette, which has been undergoing redevelopment. 

“I have always had just an extraordinary experience with them,” Thomas said. “Both the quality of their merchandise and the interfacing with their staff has been great.”

Thomas said the Rebuilding Exchange’s great customer experience and its core values and mission brings her and her family back to the storefront for their home improvement projects. 

While sustainably deconstructing homes and reclaiming materials is Rebuilding Exchange’s specialty, building community is a passion for the nonprofit, said Marketing Manager Zach Share. 

With a loyal customer base and regular community events, Share said the Rebuilding Exchange fosters a connection between the organization and community by encouraging people to make an impact on their environment and delve into their creativity. 

“We are making it accessible to the community to find materials they need and to inspire our community to use reclaimed materials,” Share said. 

Rebuilding Exchange has two storefronts, one in Evanston and another in Chicago, which have both been operating for about 12 years as separate companies. The Evanston location was formerly called Rebuilding Warehouse. Then, in 2021, the Evanston store and the Chicago store officially merged under the name Rebuilding Exchange.

Share said Rebuilding Exchange diverts 3 million pounds of materials from landfills every year. The items in the storefront have all been collected from deconstructions or walk-in donations. 

At the storefront and warehouse, people can also participate in workshops to learn how to craft and build projects from pictures frames to benches. 

Share added that support goes for those in the apprenticeship program as well as customers and those who participate in the organization’s workshops. 

The warehouse hosts several workshops ranging from topics like building a bench to artistic workshops to “everything you need to know about your HVAC system,” Share said. These workshops are a space to learn and socialize, he added. 

Rebuilding Exchange is a “system of support” for many, Share said. 

Vaughan added that most materials and items at the store have increased value since many older things were made with higher quality materials to last longer. She said an investment in these materials is also an investment in the community. 

“Things that are either made super cheaply, like fast fashion for construction, unfortunately, are hard items to reuse,” Vaughan said. “Which then kind of plays into the idea of like, ‘Okay, should we be consuming those in the first place?’”

Share said as one of the only nonprofit building material reuse stores in the country, Rebuilding Exchange’s sales from the storefront and deconstruction service help fund its workforce training program. The program serves as a jumpstart for those looking to pursue a career in the trades or gainful employment, according to Share. 

Rebuilding Exchange has two different workforce training programs: a pre-apprenticeship program and a transitional employment program. The first program is a free eight-week training, with a stipend, that prepares people to build trades apprenticeships and the second is a 20-week paid career training program. 

With these programs, Rebuilding Exchange helps break down existing barriers to trade careers, Share said. 

“We’re helping to create a more equitable future for the trades,” Share said. “We’re definitely seeing an improvement for that; we’re getting people jobs and it’s amazing.” 

In the spirit of building community, Rebuilding Exchange will host its Summer House Party on June 3 at the Chicago location. The event will include local craft vendors, food trucks, music and the organization’s “Scraptacular Challenge” — where competitors take scraps of building materials and craft them into something new.

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the length of a pre-apprenticeship program and the year of the merger between the Evanston and Chicago stores. The program is eight weeks long and the merger happened in 2021. The Daily regrets the errors. 

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @shannonmtyler

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