Group combats homelessness with
furniture
By Coty Dolores Miranda, AFN
Contributor
Even in the heat of a recent September Saturday morning, peals of
laughter could be heard from storage
units C-1 and C-9 at Ahwatukee’s Armored Self Storage off 48th Street.
The happy campers were, in
reality, happy packers, local volunteers for Furnishing Dignity, a
five-year-old nonprofit that collects gently-used furnishings and household
items and redistributes them to needy families and individuals to ensure
they’ll have what they need to make a house or apartment into a home.
Sometimes it’s just having a bed
of one’s own, or a set of gently-used dishware that can make a substantial difference
in helping families re-establish themselves.
Furnishing Dignity was founded in
2014 by Ahwatukee resident Joyce Petrowski and Anita Buckel of Chandler. A
third founding member, Lisa Campbell, now lives out of state.
More than 560 local households have
benefitted since Dignity’s founding.
Petrowski said the impetus behind
Furnishing Dignity is a memory she holds dear.
“In 2012, while volunteering for
another nonprofit, I befriended a homeless, elderly lady,” she explained. “She
was able to get into a low-income apartment with only the personal belongings
that fit into a small suitcase she rolled with her everywhere she went.
“I remember she was so excited
one day when she found an old bent up metal TV tray in the garbage,” said
Petrowski, the nonprofit’s treasurer.
“I reached out to family and
friends and asked if they had any home furnishings and would be willing to
donate to help furnish her apartment. The response was so overwhelming and we
were able to outfit her apartment, as well as help other low-income residents
with some of the extra items that were donated.”
Petrowski said word spread and
she was asked two more times to help provide furnishings to others moving into
apartments.
“I soon realized there was a
definite need for this service in the valley, and I reached out to a few
friends and family and Furnishing Dignity was born in October 2014,” said
Petrowski, a 21-year Ahwatukee resident.
On Oct. 12, Furnishing Dignity
celebrates five years of service at their Cause for Celebration, 6-8 p.m. at
Tuft & Needle headquarters, 735 Grand Ave., Phoenix.
The mattress company is a major
sponsor for the nonprofit. In 2017, the Gilbert Tuft & Needle donated 100
percent of its opening day proceeds to Furnishing Dignity.
Anita Buckel was one of the
friends called upon by Petrowski – whom she credited with being a “fellow
professional volunteer” – to serve on
the newly-created nonprofit board.
“Joyce and I had worked well
together for eight years as volunteers for our children’s elementary and middle
schools. The kids were moving on to high school when Joyce discovered this need
in the community and wanted to start helping to solve it,” said Buckel.
The nonprofit’s name was
carefully selected.
“We named it Furnishing Dignity
because acknowledging the dignity of the human spirit in those we serve was
very important to us. Our main focus became serving those who are actively
working toward self-sufficiency, foster youth transitioning from state care,
and the elderly on fixed incomes,” Buckel explained.
Buckel, a Chandler resident of 13
years who holds a master’s in English, recalled a study indicating that those
transitioning from homelessness who received furniture assistance had a better
chance for success.
Observing firsthand the reactions
of Furnishing Dignity clients – both individuals and families – still moves
Buckel as she recounts their stories.
“We have clients who are no
longer in a shelter or on the street, but the lack of furniture serves as a
reminder of the fragility and impermanence of their situation. There’s
something about a furnished home that re-humanize those who’ve been dehumanized
by the homeless experience,” she said. “One of our early clients told us he
felt like a human being again.”
Buckel continued, “I’ve heard
children tell their mom ‘Now I can have friends over!’ and “Is this MY
bed?! I can keep it?” One young lady
coming out of foster care said she woke up the next morning, ‘feeling like a
princess’. She’d never owned her own bed before.”
“Recently, before we’d even
helped her, one mom was in tears explaining what having furniture for the first
time in two years was going to do for her family. She was looking forward to a
place to sit and eat together, a place to host her son’s friends, her extended
family, a home.
“Another young man said
‘Silverware?! We haven’t had real silverware in years!’ It is truly the little
things that make a world of difference,” she said.
Furnishing Dignity is mostly
donation driven, “and it’s definitely a pay-it-forward as it all goes directly
to the clients we serve,” added Tamara Silva, a Chandler resident and
Furnishing Dignity’s executive director.
Silva, who has worked with other
nonprofits such as the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, said volunteers are
key to continuing success and service to their clients, and Furnishing Dignity
offers multiple ways in which to help.
“Before we can make a delivery,
we need volunteers to help select, clean, tag and pack household items and
furniture. Then on our Pack and Move Day, as a group we deliver the items to a
family,” Silva explained.
“You really get to see and
appreciate how a family reacts when you are part of this day.”
Selecting furnishings for each
new home isn’t a hit-or-miss project at Furnishing Dignity.
One of Buckel’s tasks includes
first meeting with the client in their home, assessing room space and asking
questions about preferences and colors, especially with children.
“Then comes my favorite part:
working with their preferences, size considerations, and needs. I love
selecting the furniture for their home. I call it channeling my inner interior
designer,” she laughed.
“Of course, we can’t always
provide exactly what they want, but we try to select furniture based on their
personality and likes and dislikes. I am not going to give a white couch to a
mom of five kids, nor am I going to give a massive sectional to a single
elderly man,” said Buckel, adding:
“Seeing the end result in each apartment is part of what drives me and
inspires me. And seeing how pleasantly surprised they are at the quality of the
furniture and the lengths we went to to coordinate the items is very
rewarding.”
Several Greater Phoenix
corporations’ employee groups and area civic groups like the National Charity
League Ahwatukee Foothills Chapter are often on hand to help with the sorting,
packing and or delivery, and sponsoring fundraising events to assist
monetarily.
Warehouse space is at a premium
as the organization continues to increasingly serve more families and
individuals.
The five smaller storage units are at capacity
and there’s a need for more space – one the nonprofit hopes will be offered
them at a less-than-market cost.
“We’re currently searching for 7,000 – 10,000
square feet of warehouse space at a discounted rate located from the airport
and east,” said Petrowski. “We’re currently working out of storage units at
Armored Self Storage in Ahwatukee, and we can be more efficient and increase
our capacity with a warehouse.”
Christian Colon is Furnishing
Dignity’s warehouse manager, and as such is responsible for overseeing donation
requests, arranging pick-ups from driveways of donor’s homes.
She also is a faithful worker bee
at most Pack and Move Days.
Anita Buckel said besides the
ongoing need for volunteers in various areas, good old-fashioned cash is always
welcome.
“Something I’ve learned in this
endeavor is that it takes money to do good. Sure, everyone will give you their
used items - especially if you pick them up, but the money, that’s a different
story. Every non-profit has expenses. For us, it is our employees, storage
units, truck, maintenance, gas, insurance, etc. Nothing gets done in the U.S.
without money,” she said wryly.
Petrowski said two more important
needs currently is spreading awareness of the nonprofit and their work, and
increasing regular donors via Furnishing Dignity’s Heart & Home Squad,
their monthly donation platform.
“As little as a $10 a month for a year commitment
will put a complete bed under a child – frame, mattress, foundation, sheets,
pillow and comforter,” she said.
“And if a business is interested
in supporting us, we have sponsorships available for entire families, for our
annual Cause for Celebration event, and other ongoing concerns,” added Buckel.