Furniture Bank works harder to help children and families in difficult economy
We are pleased to present the fall edition of our online newsletter. We hope that it will give you a better idea of what we do and who we help.
Our mission is to provide beds and essential home furnishings to children and families in need. This has an immediate, positive impact and provides part of the basic foundation on which a successful life can be built.
We encourage your thoughts, feedback and story ideas. Please let us know what you think at friends@furniture-bank.org.
Eight-year-old Elizabeth now has a bed to sleep in
Two hundred people were on hand for the Furniture Bank’s first ever Comedy Night Fundraiser, which was held on October 20 at Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle in Royal Oak. The event raised more than $19,000 to furnish hope to local families in need.
The Furniture Bank thanks event sponsors Steve Scheidt and Rosemary Ricelli Scheidt, Eastern Oil Company, June Everett, Baker College, Group Associates and Dr. Kimberly Les; along with patron sponsors Auch Construction, Gleba & Associates, Dick & Nancy Euler, John & Sharon Newman, Jenkins Magnus Volk & Carroll, Oakland University, and Bob and Sharon Smith. Thanks also to food donors Blackfinn Restaurant, Bronx Deli, Buffalo Wild Wings, Costco of Auburn Hills, Sam’s Club, Julian Brothers Bakery, Monterrey Cantina, NuTech Graphics and Town Tavern.
The Furniture Bank of Southeastern Michigan has been awarded $15,000 from the William and Marie Carls Foundation for its Beds for Kids program, which will provide new twin mattresses and box spring sets for children at risk between the ages of three and 12. The program will also provide parents with information on the sleep their child needs for healthy development.
Providing beds for children is among the most important work Furniture Bank does, receiving many referrals to assist families who have children who are sleeping on couches, with siblings… or even on floors. This impedes a proper night’s sleep, which can have a profound effect on a child’s development.
Studies show that children need 10 or 11 hours of sleep each day. Increasingly, research has found that poor sleep can effect a child’s physical and mental health. Chronic sleep loss can be linked to higher instances of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and childhood obesity, and that unhealthy sleeping habits can also impede brain development. A more recent study from Auburn University suggests that children from low income families are even more adversely affected by inadequate sleep than children from moderate or affluent backgrounds who may also be sleeping inadequately.
The Furniture Bank thanks the Carls Foundation for helping meet the critical needs of those who are most vulnerable… the needs of children.
The William and Marie Carls Foundation supports Beds for Kids program to aid the healthy development of at-risk children
As the local economy continues to create challenges not seen for generations, the Furniture Bank of Southeastern Michigan remains committed to providing beds and other essential home furnishings to children and families in need.
Despite funding reductions, we’re working hard to insure that children are not sleeping on floors, families have
tables to gather around for a meal, and people can live in their homes with the basic dignities that many of us take for
granted.
Difficult cost-saving measures have
included a reduction in staffing, fewer hours of operation, and serving both Macomb and Oakland County clients from our Pontiac facility. We’re also working to make our services more efficient and sustainable, keeping administrative costs low, while trying to make sure we meet the needs of those most vulnerable among us… the needs of children.
Join us on Facebook! The Furniture Bank maintains a Facebook page where information about our upcoming events, available pickups, and news regardung the organization is available!
Providing beds and essential home furnishings
to children and families in need
The Lasures are one of 3,000 families that will pick up beds and other essential furnishings from our warehouse this year
Special thanks go to our event co-chairs, Heather Sullivan and John Newman, as well as event committee members Dick and Nancy Euler, Pat Weber and Mary Crocker, and volunteers Kay Scheidt and Kay Bell. Their talents and hard work made the event’s success possible!
Executive Director Rob Boyle talks about Furniture Bank’s mission at the first annual Comedy Night
If you were to visit the home of Tammy and Mark Stickler, you would never guess the path that they and their five children had taken to get there.
After Mark lost his job, the Sticklers found themselves homeless for three years, doing whatever they could to get by.
Through support from their church, and access to other assistance, they now live in
a modest but well-kept Macomb County home. Mark works a variety of jobs to support the family.
But while the Sticklers were establishing a stable home for themselves, there was still one problem. Their eight-year-old daughter Elizabeth – or “Bethy” as she’s called – was sleeping on an old worn mattress the family had received. Without the means to afford a box spring, the Sticklers placed boards underneath the mattress to provide as much support as possible.
“My children mean everything to me,” said Tammy (pictured above with her daughter). “Bethy needed a bed.”
The Department of Human Services referred the Sticklers to the Furniture Bank, and we were able to get Bethy a gently used mattress, box spring, and frame.
“My bed is so comfortable,” says Bethy, who has decorated it with stuffed animals she’s received from friends. “I don’t have to sleep on the couch anymore.”
Last year, the Furniture Bank provided more than 2,300 beds to families in Oakland and Macomb counties, including families like the Sticklers, who work hard to provide a good life for their children.
HealthPlus of Michigan supports Pack’n’Play program, helping newborns to get the right start in life
The Furniture Bank was awarded a HealthPlus of Michigan Rainmaker program grant to help fund its new Pack’n’Play program for first-time, at-risk mothers and their infants.
The project, which will be conducted in collaboration with the Oakland County Nurse Family Partnership, offers an effective solution for mothers who are more frequently forced to live transiently by offering a mobile, yet safe sleeping solution. Recipient families also receive nurse supervision and instruction on
the importance of safe sleep for their newborn.
HealthPlus of Michigan - a nonprofit health-benefits company along with its subsidiaries offers a comprehensive portfolio of PPO, HMO, and TPA health plans tailored to meet the needs of employers, families, individuals, and government.
Furnitrue Bank hosted the first annual Comedy Night
Furniture Bank of Southeastern Michigan provides beds and essential home furnishings to children and families in need
It places a priority on the needs of young people, the homeless, victims of fire, as well as those with disabilities, medical emergencies and mental illness.
A United Way partner organization, Furniture Bank is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization that is on target to serve 3,000 families in Oakland and Macomb counties this year.
You can learn more about Furniture Bank by visiting www.furniture-bank.org or donate online to help more families make their house a home. You can also make a furniture or appliance donation and take advantage of our free pickup service with the donation of at least one essential item.
This year, we are on target to provide 3,000 families with more than 12,000 individual items of furniture and appliances. So even though times may be more difficult, our commitment to furnish hope for those at risk remains undaunted. We hope you’ll continue to support our important mission!
“I prayed and miracles started happening,” says Tammy.
