Lowcountry Habitat for Humanity working to replace stolen tools

Lowcountry Habitat for Humanity is working to replace thousands of dollars worth of tools stolen from its property in February.

The tools were in a trailer stolen from the nonprofit group’s property off Parris Island Gateway in Port Royal. The equipment was used for all Lowcountry Habitat building projects, marketing director Janie Lackman said.

Borrowed tools will be used until the stolen tools can be replaced. Lowcountry Habitat is accepting donations on its website.

“It’s not going to be a work stoppage for us,” Lackman said. “We have a lot of resources in the community.”

Lowcountry Habitat has surveillance video of the suspected thieves leaving with the trailer early the morning on Feb. 16 and is working with Port Royal police, Lackman said. She guessed a new trailer would probably cost $5,000 and new tools another $3,000 or more.

Habitat budgets about $600 each year for tools.

Port Royal investigator Lt. Andre Massey said he was away from the office Wednesday and unable to provide an update on the status of the case. A copy of the surveillance video will require an open-records request from the newspaper, he said.

Lowcountry Habitat’s surveillance company no longer has a copy of the video, Lackman said.

Construction manager Michael Perry had been on the job only a couple of weeks when the trailer was stolen. The trailer was parked behind the store and office, where crews had been working on a fence along the property.

Perry noticed the trailer missing when he came in and asked another employee where it was. The trailer’s hitch was locked and must have been broken by bolt-cutters or a similar tool, Perry said.

When he realized the trailer was stolen, Perry told the closest pawn shop.

“The guy said don’t even bother; that thing is probably in Charleston,” Perry said.

Perry recorded inventory in the trailer as one of his first tasks in his new job. After the theft, he took a list to a home improvement store and tried to set up a registry for people who wanted to donate. The store was willing to help but unable to create the registry, he said.

A list of needs and the tools’ prices are posted the Habitat website. Saws, electrical cords and other hand tools are on the list, which totals $2,782.

Perry said he was glad Habitat’s other trailer, containing nailguns and an air compressor, wasn’t the one stolen.

Habitat homes are built for applicants who live in substandard housing — whether overcrowded, in disrepair, unsafe or overpriced — meet income requirements and are willing to meet the required number of volunteer hours. Homeowners pay a no-interest mortgage and attend educational workshops.

Habitat chooses a floorplan based on the land. Building new homes can take about four to six months, with volunteers providing much of the labor.

The organization builds two to three new homes each year, Perry said. The group is between construction projects now, remodeling and updating existing homes.

“We’ve got stuff to keep us busy,” Perry said.

This story was originally published May 11, 2016 at 9:25 AM with the headline "Lowcountry Habitat for Humanity working to replace stolen tools."