By Sharon K. Wolfe
\nBLOOMINGTON — Mothers and children are sleeping and eating on floors despite a downtown warehouse full of donated
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\n furniture just waiting for volunteers to help.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153A lot of the furniture\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got labels — already picked out. Some days they can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even use the truck,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Della Burns, a receptionist at Recycling Furniture for Families, 515 N. Center St., formerly Recycling for Families.<\/p>\n
With no one to drive an aging truck several times a month, about a dozen families are waiting even longer to get basic home supplies to start their lives again, said operations director Latricia Frison.<\/p>\n
The nondenominational Christian charity picks up furnishings, inventories, cleans and repairs them, and delivers them where needed.<\/p>\n
What they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have — and need desperately — are some helping hands to get the work done.<\/p>\n
As it is, appointments are scheduled past Christmas for families to pick out the basics from a warehouse full of furniture. Frison wistfully says even \u00e2\u20ac\u0153three or four more people\u00e2\u20ac\u009d could help clients fill out a basic simple form to get the process started.<\/p>\n
Families in need can get beds, dressers, a couch, chair, kitchen table and chairs, bedding, dishes, pots and pans and other necessities. Recipients are generally asked to donate $20 unless they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re homeless or escaping a violent household.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We never ever have enough beds or dressers,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Burns.<\/p>\n
The group is always short of towels, pillows, sheets, comforters and mattress pads. Burns wishes motels and hospitals would donate their old but usable ones.<\/p>\n
The typical family is a mom and children making between $10,000 and $15,000 annually from minimum-wage jobs, Frison said. McLean County residents need to meet federal poverty guidelines of $9,800 yearly for one person and $3,400 for each additional person. Referrals come from McLean County agencies and churches; if a referral comes from a church, a church official is asked to visit the home.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I had a young lady fleeing domestic violence with three kids,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Frison said. All they had were blankets from a homeless shelter. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dangerous, you will leave that stuff behind.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Recycling Furniture for Families tries to accommodate emergencies. A woman with only a chair and an air mattress got a bed quickly. After a house fire, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153(Frison) jumped on it and got it taken care of in one day and arranged for delivery the next morning,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said board member Sharon McNamara.<\/p>\n
One woman arrived crabby. McNamara was as kind as possible.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I want them to experience love and kindness here. When she left, she was in tears. She left with a different heart,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d McNamara said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We try to give them as much as we can. But we can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even give everyone a dresser.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Volunteer Sam Schultz is retired and has physical ailments but spends 20 to 30 hours weekly on mailings, marketing and other office work. It gives him a reason to get up in the morning. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I got tired of four walls,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n
Schultz knows how the small group manages. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our receptionist doubles as the cleaning lady. If Della catches up on the work up front, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got the vacuum cleaner out.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Frison said Recycling Furniture for Families survives on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153grace, nothing but God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s grace.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The group\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only vehicle, a 1993 GMC box truck with 305,000 miles, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcis just running on a wing and a prayer now,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d McNamara said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If that breaks down, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what we are going to do.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The charity has one full-time and two part-time employees and about a dozen volunteers. Volunteer shifts for drivers and helpers are 4 to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. Moving equipment is available.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We need people who can repair furniture — a weak leg, a dresser drawer that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t close,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d McNamara said. Some furniture needs painting or new items need assembling.<\/p>\n
Volunteers are needed for a full day or half a day at least once a month to talk to families and go \u00e2\u20ac\u0153shopping\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with them through the warehouse during office hours.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153If 10 to 12 people come in just a few hours a month, well, it will add up,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Schultz.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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