City Furniture donates $1 million to Covenant House

City Furniture is donating $1 million to Covenant House Florida, which provides shelter and programs to at-risk youth, the company announced Tuesday.

It is the largest single donation to Covenant House, and kicks off the nonprofit organization’s statewide $10 million fundraising campaign, “Our Great Promise: Florida’s Future.” The money will help expand its shelter capacity and programming to meet the growing need of children and youth who face homelessness in the state.

Covenant House plans to relocate to a centrally located building in Broward County, which will be named after Kevin Koenig, the late brother of City Furniture CEO Keith Koenig.

Kevin Koenig founded City Furniture’s predecessor, Waterbed City. He died in 2001.

Keith Koenig chaired the Covenant House board in the late 1990s. “Keith Koenig and City Furniture have been incredibly supportive of Covenant House Florida for more than 23 years,” said Covenant House Florida Capital Campaign Director Jim Gress. City Furniture has 18 showrooms from Miami to Vero Beach, and in Fort Myers, Naples and at The Villages, as well as 12 Ashley Furniture stores as that brand’s licensee. The retailer recently announced a $100 million expansion of its retail operation that includes a new dual-branded City Furniture/Ashley HomeStore in Doral and new store locations in Central Florida.

Covenant House has provided services for more than 38,500 young people since opening in 1985, according to the agency, which also estimates there are more than 7,000 children and youth in the state each night who lack safe shelter.

The issue of homelessness has been in the spotlight within the business industry. In May, Broward County business leaders created the United We End Homelessness initiative, and AutoNation contributed $300,000 to that effort.