FURNITURE BANK TO CLOSE
Co-ordinator praises volunteers
A core city furniture bank, which for over a year has helped hundreds of refugees and other local residents in need, has announced it will be closing its doors for good next month.
The We Love Windsor Furniture Bank opened 16 months ago, largely to help supply Syrian refugees flocking to this city with used donated furniture upon their arrival.
But the furniture bank, primarily operated by the Downtown Windsor Community Collaborative (DWCC), quickly started assisting clients from several local agencies which included Ontario Works, Hiatus House, Multicultural Council and other local support entities.
The furniture bank was never intended to be a permanent fixture in the community, given that it was located in free city-owned space inside 930 Marion Ave., said Bob Cameron, community co-ordinator for DWCC.
With the city recently selling the building, there are no funds to look elsewhere where the furniture bank could remain permanently in place, he said.
Another huge hurdle is how the furniture bank has been operating entirely with volunteers — a huge demand of them given how moving furniture was the agency’s primary mandate.
“We had a great run for 16 months, have done a lot of good things, but it’s time for us to wrap it up,” Cameron said.
“There needs to be a new model with financial stability and that’s beyond our abilities and not something we can provide.”
The furniture bank will close its door on Aug. 15, shortly after fulfilling its current list of orders. Any remaining items will be handed off to local thrift shops, Cameron said.
In total, more than 400 homes in the Windsor area got items from the furniture bank, helping more than 1,300 people, he said.
City officials were happy to provide free space to the furniture bank to get the effort off the ground and aid incoming refugees, said Jelena Payne, Windsor’s community development and health commissioner.
“The agreement was for one year and we did some month-tomonth extensions after that,” she said. “But this was never meant to be permanent.
“They have really done a lot of good work. We were really impressed how organized they were and how well they utilized volunteers.”
Given how so many local agencies have been relying on the furniture bank, it shows the need and hopefully a new venture will emerge, Payne said.
The city guided several Ontario Works clients and other low-income earners to the furniture bank.
“Under our Housing First perspective, we help people with a place to live, but they need furniture and other things to make it feel like a home,” Payne said.
“This allowed people to have some furniture of decent quality. For others looking to get rid of furniture, this was a way to put it to good use and help people.”
Cameron was hopeful a new venture will emerge in Windsor to gather used furniture and distribute items back into the community.
“Our volunteers were great,” he said. “But for some of them this became like a full-time job. Everyone involved has really enjoyed this, but that’s a big commitment to ask of people.”
For a similar venture succeeding, “it all comes down to money,” Cameron said.
“It was privilege for us to try this experiment and meet the needs,” he said.
“It’s definitely with some regret we have to do this and close. But we are confident something will come out that is even better.”