Beds for Sleepyheads
Who We Are: New Life Furniture Bank is a faith-based non-profit located in Blue Ash, Ohio, serving the Greater Cincinnati area. The region’s only nationally-registered furniture bank, we collect gently used furniture (mattresses/beds, dressers, tables, chairs, sofas, lamps) from people who have extra, inspect and clean it, and deliver the items directly to the homes of families in extreme need. Originally a small ministry of Milford First United Methodist Church founded in 2006, the organization gained 501(C)3 status in 2009. Now, New Life Furniture Bank partners with over 35 social service agencies to help end the cycle of homelessness.
What We Do: A “furniture bank” works a lot like a food bank – only instead of food, we collect donations of gently-used furniture and provide to those in need. We deliver up to 18 items, furnishing empty houses of individuals and families overcoming homelessness, escaping domestic abuse, aging out of foster care, or rebuilding after disasters, and extreme poverty. This restores dignity, brings pride of ownership, adds confidence, and allows people to stabilize while working towards self-sufficiency. We get children sleeping on floors into warm, safe beds. For those who have lost everything or have nothing, we turn empty houses into homes.
Why We’re Important: Imagine your children sleeping and eating on cold, bare floors day after day and night after night. This is the harsh reality for thousands of low-income families escaping poverty in Greater Cincinnati. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Cincinnati’s child poverty rate is one of the highest in the nation, and the city is consistently ranked in the top poorest cities in our country with a poverty rate almost twice the state’s average. Our goal is for all Cincinnati families to live in furnished homes, thereby relieving suffering, strengthening family units, improving quality of life, and building a better community.
How We Serve the Community: We believe in the healing power of giving and receiving to empower communities to come together and support our most vulnerable populations. In 2019, we conducted 1,756 pickups and delivered 13,466 pieces of furniture to 890 households consisting of 1,817 individuals. Of these, 51% were children under the age of 18. The families we serve are the “poorest of the poor”: 84% reported earning less than $12,000 annually. Also, when you donate, you are not only helping people in need, you are recycling and helping prevent more than 10,000 items that we collect each year from ending up in landfills.
Special Thanks to the Rug Gallery for generously sponsoring the New Life Furniture Bank feature in Sophisticated Living Magazine’s Sophisticated Giving Register.