“Furniture donation is especially critical for low income families who are forced to make difficult choices between buying food, furniture, children’s clothes, or school supplies,” explains Teresa Buker, who co-founded Family Matters, a volunteer-run furniture bank with friends Debra Cotter and Margaret Grimm. The three draw on their community to donate gently used household items as well as personal time and labor.
Located in the basement of Our Lady of Fatima Church in Magnolia, the organization collects wish lists from social service agencies throughout Seattle and then matches up its inventory with the needs of recently housed families and individuals. Since most of their clients lack transportation, Family Matters partners with Bekins Northwest Moving to provide a free weekly delivery service. To date, they have outfitted 115 households.
“Basic necessities such as beds, sofas, kitchen tables and chairs, pots and pans, and linens are often overlooked as essential to rebuilding and stabilizing one’s life,” says Cotter. “We transform an empty apartment into a warm, welcoming home for a formerly homeless family or individual,” adds Grimm.
To donate furniture or household items to Family Matters please call the donations hotline at (206) 352-4563.
—Amy Besunder