Doer of the Month: Furnish for Good

Eighteen months ago, Priscilla Chapman, Lesley Faulkner, and Mary Beth Hollett did not know each other although each had lived in Charlotte for years.

Now, it is difficult for them to remember a time when they weren’t talking multiple times on the phone, exchanging emails, and sweating together in a warehouse off of College Street. They bonded over the need to create something that did not exist in Charlotte—a nonprofit to provide furnishings and home goods for people moving out of homelessness using donated items and a lot of dignity throughout the process. 

Of the three women, Lesley had been hearing a specific whisper to do something around furnishings inspired by organizations like The Green Chair Project in Raleigh and The Green Nest in Winston Salem. Lesley had even visited Green Chair but with a full-time real estate career, she felt overwhelmed by the idea of creating something alone. Lesley, Mary Beth, and Priscilla were all introduced at a meeting in March 2019. Over fifteen women came to hear about the furnishing idea but these three walked away with the whisper—maybe together they could create something.

“I was worried about the legal implications,” Mary Beth said. “We needed to create a 501c3 and articles of incorporation. I didn’t know how to do that.”

“The donation part was what concerned me,” Priscilla said. “If we promised furnishings, where would we get them? What if we ran out?”

“I didn’t know if agencies would want to work with us,” admitted Lesley. “At one of our very first community meetings, some guy told us we would only ever be ‘women with a hobby.’”

That guy could not have been more wrong. Together, Mary Beth, Priscilla, and Lesley have become a force for good leveraging their strengths to divide this monumental task into a new and needed nonprofit. Inspired by others but creating their own, Lesley, Mary Beth, and Priscilla named their new venture Furnish for Good. It took only six months to brand their nonprofit, create a website, partner for 4,000 feet of office space, and begin serving families.

In a Zoom interview, the three were humble about that accomplishment wanting to credit others. Morningstar Storage gave them a great deal on their new space. Patrick Connelly with moovr.com stepped up to move in with almost every family and individual this year. Southend Exchange has become an invaluable partner helping sell some donations. They are also quick to include the other three women who are part of their very hands-on six-person board: Genie Scheurer, Kitty Bray, and Kelly Burkholder. Not to mention a hive of volunteers who help bring in the donations, create dish sets and bedding packages.

“We have ten women who don’t just show up once a month,” Priscilla said. “They come twice a week!” 

It’s all part of the love and dignity process that is key to their success. Unlike donation centers where people must sort through dusty castoffs to find what they might need, Furnish for Good clients shop in a showroom that looks like a retail store. Each family or individual moving out of homelessness chooses the sofa, dresser, or chairs they need from a selection of items that have been cleaned and made ready for a new home. In the new COVID-19 world, Furnish for Good has had to make modifications, sending photos for their clients to choose from instead of in-person browsing.

The true magic happens when they move people home. 

“When you see our families with the joy and pride of sitting on their new sofas, it is real,” Priscilla said. “It is real emotion.”

Just follow the Furnish for Good Instagram if you want to see what she means. The smiles say it all about how their work is making a difference. Once worried that no agency would want to work with ‘women with a hobby,’ Furnish for Good has over fifteen partner agencies including Charlotte’s largest homeless service agencies like Roof Above and Charlotte Family Housing.

“Now we have a waiting list of ten agencies wanting to work with us,” Priscilla said. “We get at least one call a week.”

Even through the disruptive 2020 pandemic year, the team has moved in an average of four households a week. They have divided the work to suit each founder’s strengths. Lesley manages donations, Priscilla handles the clients, and Mary Beth tackles the administrative needs. Watching their smiles throughout our interview it is easy to see that they have come to love each other as much as the work.

“Lesley can find ANYTHING,” Mary Beth laughs. “And Priscilla could sell ice to an Eskimo!”

Lesley credits Priscilla, “She is our fearless leader! She does every Instagram post. She sets up every appointment for our clients. She works with all our partner agencies and the social workers to choose furnishings. She is really amazing!”

Priscilla deferred the compliment. “It is just incredible how every time we have needed something, it just seems to appear. We are about to run out of couches and then Lesley calls to say she found some!”

There does appear to be something divine happening with this trinity. They held their first fundraiser, an online auction of designer spaces curated by some of Charlotte’s top interior designers and ended up raising over $95,000. Two weeks after the event, checks are still coming in and they are grateful and amazed.

“No one told us no?” Mary Beth said. “Every designer we approached said yes!”.

The money will be used to support operations, buy mattresses, brand their new donated truck.  What else might they need?

“10,000 square feet?” Priscilla said.

“A bathroom!” Lesley and Mary Beth said in unison. 

And they really aren’t kidding. Their current space requires an elevator down to the first floor for any bathroom breaks. So, if you are reading this and have a great deal on a bigger space with facilities, they would love to hear from you. This trio is not stopping any time soon. After providing over 1800 household items helping 217 create new homes, Furnish for Good is still growing. Their biggest need continues to be dressers, couches, new twin mattresses, coffee tables and dining tables. Contact them about your donations (please be kind and only offer items in good condition). Beginning in January, they will have designated weekly pick up days.

As busy as they have been, all three were full of gratitude for this new work.

“I hadn’t realized how I had my mind so full of things that really didn’t matter until I made space for this,” Priscilla said.

When thinking about scrambling to find donations, Lesley said, “It was amazing how everything just keeps coming together. The people we need just keep being put on our path.”

It was Mary Beth who choked up and wiped tears at the end of our interview. “The best part is working with all these smart, caring women. When I see the families going through what they are going through, and it doesn’t define them. . .” She must take a moment before finishing.

“Everyone wants the same thing. We all want the same thing. A safe place to call home.”

- Kathy

Want to Do Good? Furnish for Good can always use your donations of furnishings, home goods, (especially couches, dressers, coffee tables, and dining tables) as well as monetary donations. Click here to Donate money and here to donate goods.