Furniture drive to benefit poor, homeless

Sandra Belton pushed a shopping cart down the aisle of a warehouse filled with donated goods, matching sheets to a blue-and-white striped comforter she had chosen for her 5-year-old son.

"Christmas!" she exclaimed with a broad grin, as a double bed she selected was carted to the front of the building by volunteers.

Her voice trailed off and her eyes glistened. "A new beginning -- a new start."

Nearby, a family that lost everything in an apartment fire followed volunteer Beth Nystrom to some tall shelves of bathroom accessories. Nystrom helped the mother search through bundled towels and wash cloths to find matching pinks.

It was shopping day at the 25,000-square-foot CARITAS furniture bank on East Commerce Road in Richmond -- the only one of its kind in Virginia. CARITAS, Congregations Around Richmond Involved To Assure Shelter, collects and distributes furniture to homeless individuals who are referred by 24 area agencies.

Belton was referred by the Chesterfield County Community Services Board and the fire victims by the American Red Cross. The agencies pay $35 per client referred. The clients pay nothing for the furnishings.

"We realize we don't fix all of their problems, but we're a start toward building their new lives," said Karen O'Brien, furniture bank director. "Searching for jobs, addiction, working through the system to get their children back, maybe their driver's license is gone -- they have so many things to overcome to get to stability. Furniture is just a hurdle we can solve for them."

CARITAS is kicking off its first citywide furniture drive the next two weekends, starting today and ending Oct. 5. PODS (Portable On Demand Storage) will be set up at 10 area furniture stores to collect mattresses, dressers and other household goods.

Mattress Discounters donated 100 mattress-and-spring sets to get the drive started.

The bank got its start in 2005 in the garage of Wendy McCaig's suburban Chesterfield County home. McCaig, executive director of Embrace Richmond, a faith-based charitable organization that helps the homeless, noticed a gap between finding shelter and making a home. It hit her on a visit to the apartment of a newly placed mother, who was sleeping on a rolled-up jacket in the floor beside her baby, still strapped in an infant car seat.

McCaig began collecting furnishings and ran the bank out of several donated and rented spaces until CARITAS took over in 2008 and moved into the warehouse. Its lofty shelves are filled with an ever-changing inventory of furniture, accessories, kitchenware and a small thrift area where some goods are sold to raise gas money for two delivery trucks.

So far this year, the bank has helped 250 families and 618 individuals with free furniture worth an estimated $108,911.

A cadre of 338 volunteers, some transitioning between homelessness or addiction and employment, work in the bank in various capacities, including shelving donations, repairing furniture, running the office and teaching computer or job skills to those entering the job market.

"There have been some relapses and it breaks all of our hearts, but we tell them to get up and go do it again," O'Brien said.

Crystal Bowman, a sheltered CARITAS individual and single mother of eight children, has volunteered at the furniture warehouse for the past three months. Four of her children are still at home, and one is disabled.

She takes the city bus or gets a ride to the bank every day from Highland Park. "I want to be able to give back what was truly given to me," she said, sorting through donated towels. "It's wonderful that there are so many people out here who do care."

Nearby, Georgiana Yancey was making dish packs -- sets of four plates, saucers and cups. At age 76, she uses a walker and takes a bus to the furniture bank every day from her Charity Street home.

"A lot of people have got pity parties going on," Yancey said. "When you get to be my age, every day is a blessing," she said.

"It doesn't take a lot to help," O'Brien said. "Just give us your stuff, give us your time."

Contact Julie Young at (804) 649-6732 or .