Fire-damaged Furniture Bank nonprofit seeking donations
Things were looking bleak for Oli Mohammed after a 2-alarm fire swept through the Houston Furniture Bank last month, destroying its warehouse inventory and even the delivery trucks.
The nonprofit, located on I-45 near Cullen, has served the greater Houston area for 25 years by distributing household furnishings to people in need.
With the fire, the prospects suddenly went dim.
But the Houston charity has gotten some muchneeded help with a $35,000 donation from the International Interior Design Association’s Houston City Center.
The group donated the proceeds from its spring fashion show.
“It’s like there was a boat sinking and somebody threw you a life jacket,” said Mohammed, the furniture bank’s executive director.
“This $35,000 saved the day and it’s right on time.
“For now, it’s keeping the doors open for the Houston Furniture Bank.”
The blaze broke out in the early morning hours of Aug. 8, and consumed the 10,000-square-foot metal warehouse at 2100 Hussion.
Only a few files from the office were salvaged.
“We lost absolutely everything in the fire, from our inventory and fleet of trucks to computers, phone system, even cell phones,” Mohammed said of the nonprofit, which provides housing assistance for those who need furniture for their home.
For now, the charity operates a mattress recycling center at 8220 Mosely that accepts mattresses and box springs from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
By recycling the mattresses, the charity keeps 600,000 mattresses each
year from ending up in landfills, Mohammed said.
The furniture bank also operates an outlet store at 3801 Gulf Freeway that sells gently used and overstocked furniture from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
All proceeds from the furniture outlet store benefit the Houston Food Bank, which last year served 800,000 people in its 18-county Southeast Texas service area that includes Houston.
“The recent fire was a total loss for this organization, and while they are pushing forward, this has been a huge setback for them,” said Heather Rogers, an architect at McCoyRockford in Houston and member of IIDA.
“They were left with no way to serve the families that were counting on their help.”
The furniture bank is working hard to bounce back, but still needs emergency funding to continue to deliver furniture and pick up donations, Rogers said.
“We were thrilled to be able to contribute a $35,000 donation from the proceeds of our 2015 IIDA Product Runway event,” she said.
“The furniture bank isn’t just giving away free furniture to anyone that asks.
“They are providing families with basic necessities needed to make a house into a home.”
Mohammed said the nonprofit is building a 75,000-square-foot facility at 8220 Mosely that will serve even more families.
The charity currently serves about 100-150 people each month.
“Out of the 6.3 million people in the greater Houston area, 1.2 million live under the poverty line,” Mohammed said.
“If you take 50 percent, that’s over 500,000 families in Houston that may be sleeping on the floor every other night.
“This is the United States of America and children sleeping on the floor should not be acceptable,” Mohammed said. “It does not need to happen.”
To make a donation, visit HoustonFurnitureBank. org.