REBUILDING CENTER

Portland, Oregon


ReBuilding Center is a non-profit that focuses on inclusivity and accessibility in reuse and repair as a pathway to a less extractive economy and more resilient, just communities. Their mission includes providing affordable building materials to all, educating on the tools and skills essential for home repair, and contributing to a more sustainable environment through material diversion and the production of new products. Rebuilding Center’s commitment to and actions towards justice and equity in the community is apparent in all they do.

Material Resource Regeneration
ReBuilding Center operates a 30,000 sq. ft store containing salvaged and new building materials at a low cost to the public (40% to 90% off retail cost). The inventory of the store is largely based on material donations from residential salvage and renovation projects in addition to surplus material from construction and development contractors in the city. The inventory includes materials across categories such as appliances, cabinets, dimensional lumber, doors, hardware, toilets and plumbing, tile, tools, trim and moulding, sinks and tubs, lighting, windows, furniture, and other unique miscellaneous items.

Education + Events
A core component of ReBuilding Center are the classes and workshops that are hosted in the in-store woodshop. The class offerings are diverse and include introduction to the essential tools for carpentry, deep dives into specific tools such as routers and table saws, introduction to carpentry workshops that apply tools and skills to a buildable project such as Cedar garden boxes, other home repair such as electrical work, and creative reuse workshops such as tile mosaics. The classes are offered at 3 different price points to reach as many in the community as possible: general, supporter (pay extra to help support partial-scholarships and free classes), reduced price scholarships for low income and/or BIPOC students.

ReBuilding Center is hosting a creative reuse design series called Shed Talks where they invite makers across disciplines who are driven by reuse materials in their work. The speakers span from carpenters, architects, artists, to urban designers or anyone who is reframing the relationship to waste material through built works.

Public + Spatial Amenities
ReBuilding Center is open to the public for purchasing re-use and excess materials as well as weekly donation hours for the drop-off of acceptable materials. The woodshop has open lab hours at a rate of $10 per hour throughout the month and anyone who has taken an intro class or has prior tool experience is welcome to use the space for personal projects.

Alternative Structures + Community Wealth Building
ReBuilding Center recently launched the Home Repair for All (HRA) program that works with low-income homeowners to teach the skills and provide materials for safe home repair at no cost. The program intends to empower low-income homeowners in their abilities to maintain and retain their homes. HRA is 6 months long and in addition to materials (up to $500) and unlimited classes, includes monthly newsletters, monthly group gatherings for further knowledge sharing and community building, open shop time, and the opportunity to be a paid representative of the HRA program.




REFERENCES
ReBuilding Center Website