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Tool store aims to fund homeless support

The World - 5/26/2021

May 26—An old building in North Bend has got new life — and the group behind it is hoping it can help do the same for the state's homeless veterans.

"This is my first retail experience of any sort," said Joshua Swart, standing behind the counter at ORH Tools & Hardware. "I really wanted to get a job, so they gave me a job."

The new store is one of the latest projects from Operation Rebuild Hope, a North Bend nonprofit out to help the region's homeless veterans get back on their feet.

Swart's part in that effort is two-fold: The profits from the tools and hardware he sells in the store and through Facebook ads go back to ORH, which uses the funds to build and renovate housing and provide rental assistance and other case management services to veterans experiencing homelessness.

He was also one of those veterans.

After growing up in California and spending time in the Navy — the third generation in his family to serve in the branch — Swart moved back to the west coast, living with family members in south central Oregon and later in Brookings.

When he lost his merchant marine job due to mental health struggles and became homeless, Swart found there weren't many resources he could lean on in Brookings.

"There's a VA clinic there. Other than that, there's nothing," Swart said.

But when he heard about Operation Rebuild Hope's housing program, he moved north to Coos Bay. He moved in to the nonprofit's Bryan's Home, a multi-unit house for two-year stays with a designated case manager.

And when the nonprofit made plans to open the tool store, Swart stepped up and asked for the job.

"This is my first retail experience of any sort," Swart said. "It's been pretty good."

ORH Executive Director Patrick Wright said the idea behind the tool store is not only to give ORH clients work experience, but also to help the nonprofit fund its programs.

"Here I am teaching veterans to be self-sufficient," Wright said. "We are working towards being self-sufficient ourselves as an organization."

As a model, he pointed to South Coast Hospice, which uses revenue from its thrift store to fund some of its work.

Operation Rebuild Hope's store has been up and running for about two months but the work began before that. ORH staff and volunteers had to clear old tools, hardware and antiques out of the building they're leasing, which also now houses the organization's head office down the hall.

Tools and hardware will be purchased wholesale from the east coast, and Wright said he expects to eventually expand the store to include military surplus items.

The business venture is starting at an important time for the organization, as a slew of other projects begin ramping up.

Just a few blocks away, the sign outside North Bend'sParkside Motel now reads "ORH."

The nonprofit just closed on the sale of the property with a state housing grant, and is already using some of the rooms for emergency housing for veterans.

Coos Health & Wellness will continue to use some of the rooms as COVID-19 isolation spaces, but will turn those over the ORH as the pandemic winds down. Wright said he hopes to have the former hotel's 16 rooms renovated as shorter-term residences this summer.

Those short, 30- to 90-day stays combined with Bryan's Home's longer-term stays make up the first two steps of ORH's three-step vision to bring veterans from homelessness to permanent living.

The third step is in the works, too: Coos County earlier this month transferred ownership of a chunk of property for the nonprofit to use for tiny-home housing. Residents will be able to stay in those units as long as they like, according to Wright.

But the organization isn't planning to stop at permanent housing.

"There ended up being a fourth, hidden step," Wright said. "We realized we underestimated the ability of our veterans."

ORH has partnered with real estate agents and loan officers to help veterans get on the path to owning their own home. Wright said at least one veteran could be finishing the homeless-to-homeowner path in the coming months.

And the ORH model is resonating.

Wright said leaders statewide have reached out about the nonprofit, and plans are in the works to expand into two other counties and several additional cities.

"It's insane that this started so small and was such a humble cause, and five years later, here we are at multiple locations and owning three properties," Wright said.

The plan for each of those expansions is to follow the model that's been set up in Coos County in the five years since the nonprofit spawned from an effort to re-roof a veteran's home.

Wright says they'll include three parts: An office where ORH can provide case management and housing assistance services, a residential community and a business.

The business arm of the operation, like ORH Tools & Hardware in North Bend, will help the nonprofit stay on a stable footing, financially and otherwise, according to Wright.

"Rather than selling hopes and dreams like we've been for five years, we actually have a tangible product," Wright said.

ORH Tools & Hardware at 2055 Union Avenue in North Bend is open Monday and Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Wednesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. More information about ORH is available on its website at www.operationrebuildhope.org.

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