A new MakerSpace and thrift store will soon open at the former Reuse location on West Union Street.
ReUse Industries ceased operations in February, with leaders of the nonprofit citing an inability to “meet its financial obligations,” The Athens NEWS previously reported.
Rural Action CEO Debbie Phillips told The NEWS that the new entities are yet to be named, but they will, in part, revive the mission of ReUse Industries.
The MakerSpace and thrift shop are both products of numerous meetings among local nonprofits that followed the closure of Reuse, with one meeting in particular garnering more than 60 attendees from multiple community organizations.
Phillips commented that each non-profit in the partnership involved in the making of these new entities — Rural Action, the Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACEnet), Habitat for Humanity of…