The doors to the South Georgian Bay Habitat for Humanity ReStore were shuttered on Saturday.
According to the ReStore’s manager, Brad Lebeck, the ReStore was forced to close its doors after its volunteers walked off the job.
“Our volunteers do not agree with the direction that the board is taking us. They have walked off in protest of that. And, we cannot safely open the store with just our staff,” said Lebeck.
According to Lebeck, the local ReStore employs five employees and the remainder of its workforce is made up of 21 regular volunteers.
He explains that the volunteers are refusing to work after the board of the SGB Habitat for Humanity parted ways with its longtime executive director, Joy Fleury.
“The official statement was it was a termination without cause,” he said.
According to Lebeck, Fleury was fired in September and the volunteer workforce passionately disagrees with her termination.
A few of the volunteers in the building on Saturday describe the situation as “heartbreaking” and say there was no communication from the board ahead of the termination.
“The volunteers want to be heard. They want to have the board and Habitat Canada understand that they are serious and that this is not just a game. It's not just something that will go away. They're taking a stand,” explained Lebeck.
Dan Austen has volunteered with the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore for more than 12 years. He said the volunteers have been concerned with the direction the board has been moving for the past several years and Fleury’s termination was the final straw.
“I haven't heard anything other than secondhand. So, I don't really know the whole plan or what these people are doing because they haven’t communicated anything to us,” he said.
While sorting out the store closure, Lebeck was also surprised to find a number of individuals showing up to take part in a fundraiser.
Earlier this month, the SGB Habitat for Humanity advertised its first-annual Families Walk for Families FUN-raiser, which was posted to Facebook and Eventbrite.
Walk participants were turned away with little to no information on what was happening with the event or their pledges.
“I think what happened was that it was cancelled but whoever's on the board neglected to take it down off of Facebook. I only found out about it this morning myself,” Lebeck said. “They also cancelled a contract with our fund developer and she was the one that was planning this event.”
Moving forward, Lebeck said the ReStore staff and volunteers are asking a third party to help resolve the situation.
As of Saturday the chair of the board has stepped down and the vice chair is now acting as the interim chair. Additionally, the South Georgian Bay Habitat for Humanity website has an active job posting for its executive director role.
As for the Re-store, until the volunteers are willing to come back to work, the store will remain closed, said Lebeck.
A reporter reached out to the board chair, vice chair and Habitat Humanity Canada for a comment. No comment or communication was received before publication time.
