Bringing Hope to Homes 

When you think of your home, what do you envision? Do you reflect on memories, mementos, or your favorite reading nook? Take what you have visualized and erase all of the furniture, cook wear, and home decor. Does it still feel like your home or has it just become a place to shelter? These differences are more than aesthetic - they prevent homelessness. 

Each year, Hope to Home Furniture Resource serves 225-250 households of formerly unhoused families with children (around 50%), veterans (around 30%), as well as those escaping human trafficking and domestic abuse. Why do resources matter? When evaluating those formerly unhoused who are then able to purchase or rent property, 40 - 50% will end up unhoused again if the home remains unfurnished. However, if the property is furnished, less than 5% do. That is why over 95% of Hope to Home recipients have maintained stability. As one recipient said, "I had hope before, but now I have a home". 

Hope to Home partners with 21 community organizations, receiving referrals from case managers and social workers. After the formerly unhoused family moves in, Hope to Home furnishes their new space, setting them up for success. Every Saturday, volunteers provide 4-5 families with free, gently used or refurbished couches, dressers, nightstands, tables, chairs, kitchenware, microwaves, as well as brand new beds and mattresses with linens and pillows. For many of the children served, this is their first bed, with one child even asking, "When will you take it back?" He was assured it would remain his and was provided a stuffed animal to go with it.  Not only will his emotions improve, but furnished homes also correlate with an increased rating in academics, behavior, and relationships. After everything is set up, volunteers pray with the family to bless them and their new home.

Hope to Home is 100% volunteer run, meaning 99 cents of every dollar donated directly supports a recipient. To keep their mission going, their warehouse needs to remain stocked with delivery and transportation offered to those donating furniture. More than individuals are contributing to inventory - real estate companies, interior designers, and hotels are also supporting their cause. Habitat for Humanity's Restore also provides items that are not moving off of the floor. Every item matters as in 2025 alone, Hope to Home provided over 1,000 pieces of furniture. 

Can't move furniture but still want to help hands-on? Join them for the fourth Saturday of the month to assemble kitchen kits or for "Tinker Tuesdays" where those handy with carpentry provide a new life to old furniture, as they will not provide recipients with a piece they wouldn't give to a neighbor. You can register online for any volunteer opportunity and those aged 14+ can assist with a parent or guardian present. 

Their impact has countless rippling effects, but in a small story it is captured. When delivering a single-mom and her special needs son their furniture, they were greeted by the boy wearing a Spiderman costume. He continued to express his excitement as he could now read his Spiderman comics in his first bed, with his very own lamp, at night. Although Spiderman was the best, Hope to Home now has his favorite super heroes. You can be a hero too by supporting Hope to Home Furniture Resource.