Charity Provides Furniture To 500th Family Moving Out Of Homelessness

A Valley family has traded air mattresses for real beds as Furnishing Dignity celebrates assisting their 500th household.

Furnishing Dignity serves individuals and families moving out of homelessness and foster kids transitioning into their own apartments. The 501(c)(3) charity provides essential home furnishings, including beds, dressers, tables, sofas, and small kitchen appliances. The new and gently-used furnishings are free to the recipients, and volunteer moving teams set up the household.  Ahwatukee moms Joyce Petrowski and Anita Buckel founded Furnishing Dignity in 2014 after discovering a gap in existing community services.

The 500th family is a couple with two young kids. They became homeless in 2017 and lived in their car before splitting up into two different shelters. Another Valley charity helped the family get an apartment in 2018, but they were unable to afford furniture. For months, the family has lived with borrowed and discarded items, sleeping on air mattresses.

“Everyone deserves a bed; every child needs a place do homework,” Petrowski said. “These are things so many people take for granted, but these simple furnishings provide a major confidence boost to our recipients as they transform their lives.”

“Because of Furnishing Dignity, these individuals and families can focus on other pressing issues, like finding and keeping jobs, focusing on health issues, and enrolling kids in school or daycare,” Buckel said.

furnishingdignity.org

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