Collaborating for Change: Our visit from Furniture Bank
Lia Fedak of Furniture Bank with Matthew House Ottawa’s David Botha (Program Director, Furniture Bank)
Matthew House Ottawa (MHO) was thrilled to welcome Lia Fedak from Toronto’s Furniture Bank for a visit at the end of August.
Founded in 1998, Furniture Bank works to end furniture poverty – one family at a time. Much like MHO, Furniture Bank “provides low-income individuals and families with home essentials needed to create conditions of comfort, dignity and stability that come from having a furnished home.” Operating across the Greater Toronto Area, Furniture Bank has helped give over 110,500 individuals and their families a new start.
During Furniture Bank’s recent visit we discussed the opportunities and challenges of relying heavily on volunteers, hiring and retaining staff, and building positive workplace culture. We also discussed how partnerships across furniture banks can help make the most of available resources. Lia was pleasantly surprised to see the similarities in operations despite MHO’s smaller size.