Spotlight: Furniture Bank

Furniture Bank is a registered charity and social enterprise that has existed since 1998.

Their mission is to transfer gently used furniture and household goods donated by individuals or corporations to people who have recently transitioned out of homelessness. In most instances, they have nothing when they move into new housing. They help turn an empty space into a true home with a kitchen table to enjoy meals, a comfortable space to share stories of the day and bug free beds for safe sweet dreams. In 2010, they helped 2,527 families or nearly 5,000 people including 1,600 children. To give you some idea of the need for their services, in 2008 they were able to assist 1,524 families. Thus in that 2 year period their non-profit enterprise grew by nearly 65% - an unfortunate sign of the times.

Furniture Bank works with 64 shelters and agencies serving women and children leaving abusive situations, refugee families seeking safety and youth at risk as well as Toronto’s Streets to Homes program. In fact, Streets to Homes clients represent almost 26% of their client base. Their operations, a social enterprise called Furniture Link, now has three trucks on the road and they lease a 30,000 square foot warehouse to serve our clients and donors. Employees and volunteers in the Furniture Link program include individuals such as at risk youth, the learning or emotionally disabled, people receiving Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) benefits and other marginalized people with limited employment opportunities.

Furniture Bank also is a part of the solution to the root causes of solid waste in the Greater Toronto Area. By transferring items from donor to client, they help to divert these materials from landfills and in 2010, that volume was over 1,200 metric tonnes of waste.

Furniture Bank is committed to social responsibility in our community, through their client activities, their social purpose enterprise and their impact on the environment.