ANN FISHER
Life in a homeless shelter a decade ago helped Paul Rickman learn to distinguish between wants and needs, a skill he uses each day on the job at Columbus’ only free-furniture bank, Material Assistance Providers.


He earned his wisdom the hard way, but we all could use some help recognizing the difference in this age of hyperconsumerism and mass marketing.

From the moment he enters the waiting room, introduces himself to the clients and ushers them into the warehouse, Rickman works to divine their needs.

Clients work from a checklist and are allowed 15 minutes to view and select furniture. Rickman knows that some appreciate when he explains what is unavailable or in short supply that day, saving them time and frustration.

And he has learned to watch their eyes as they scan the room, searching for signs of want. When that’s the case, he said, they often leave empty-handed.

“If somebody wants something, you can’t always help them,” he said. “If someone needs something, you usually can.”

Connecting folks in need with donated furniture is the simple mission of the agency. Such clarity of purpose in eight years has taken the nonprofit, non-United Way agency through two moves, from its original cramped office and a row of portable storage units to its new and permanent home at 118 S. Yale Ave. in the Franklinton neighborhood.

Tonight, Mayor Michael B. Coleman will officially proclaim June 28 “MAP Furniture Bank Day,” drawing attention to an important organization that impresses donors and recipients alike with its efficiency and focus.

Hallmark probably isn’t planning a card line for the occasion, but the proclamation puts the agency on the map, giving it the visibility any nonprofit would appreciate in the nonstop process of raising money.

More than 50 social-service agencies and more than 150 churches and special-interest groups refer clients and families to the furniture bank. This year, the agency will serve an estimated 3,500 families, half of whom struggle on annual incomes of less than $5,000.

Jeff Hay, who founded the agency in 1998, met Rickman a decade ago at the Open Shelter.

They stayed in touch, and he recruited Rickman six years ago for the furniture-bank job. Rickman said he was inspired by Hay’s sense of purpose and that, with his worst days behind him, it was time to give back. The job is a good fit because it allows him to combine his natural empathy and street savvy.

“I’ve been in a shelter before and worked there, too,” Rickman said. “I saw people who have been worse off than I’ve ever been.”

Eventually, the plan of his life became clear through Hay, who since has left his leadership post there.

“I’m as happy as I’ve ever been at a job because I’m helping someone,” Rickman said. “A lot of us go through life trying to figure out what we should be doing.”

Mostly, he knows the value of a stick of furniture, not its retail worth or what it will bring on the antiques market, but the simple dignity of a decent mattress and how the heart feels full at a table for dinner.

He knows that the alternative for many is a floor or the ground.

He knows the need. And he wants to help.

Ann Fisher is a Dispatch Metro columnist. She can be reached at 614-461-8759 or by e-mail.

afisher@dispatch.com