Household Goods Inc.

Our goal is to provide basic, home furnishings to those who need but cannot afford them, so that they can live with dignity. We provide beds to sleep in, tables at which to eat, and cookware to make a meal. We work toward this goal by providing a full range of donated furniture and household items, free of charge to those who need them. This is critical because making a home is often the first step toward long-term stability.
Our objectives include:

1. Having all essential items for each client to select on the date of their appointment.
2. Cultivating a steady donor and volunteer base by promoting community awareness of Household Goods.
3. Seeking opportunities for large-volume acquisitions of goods.
4. Ensuring adequate volunteer staffing for all aspects of the operation.

Household Goods helps people with limited means who need but cannot afford basic furniture and household items, as identified by approximately 300 social service agencies. The people coming for help may be emerging from homelessness, veterans, immigrants or refugees, families struggling to get by on minimum wage, victims of natural disaster or fire, those fleeing domestic violence, and others.

Household Goods has specific hours set aside to accommodate the alternating processes of receiving and redistributing donated goods. During receiving shifts, volunteers pick up donations from residential and organizational donors. Other donors bring their items to Household Goods where volunteers gratefully accept and process them.

During hours set aside for client visits, Household Goods welcomes clients and helps each one select the items they need. Everything someone needs to set up a home is available: beds, sofas, tables, chairs, dressers, dishes, sheets, blankets, towels. Clients arrive with a rented or borrowed truck and a list of needed items. They are paired with a Household Goods volunteer who helps them select their items.

The biggest challenge that Household Goods has is to match the timing of the donation of goods to the demand from our clients. Donations of goods spike in spring and summer and plummet sharply in winter. Because clients come seven days a week all year long, Household Goods must maintain adequate inventory on site to provide essential items to all clients on the date of their appointment. The fluctuation of donations requires that we take advantage of large donations of essential items from hotels, universities and other organization as they become available. This requires renting tractor trailers, paying for delivery and relocation of the trailers and additional onsite storage pods. It also requires us to maintain two box trucks to pick up donations either from local residents or from commercial organizations, such as furniture stores with excess inventory or hotels that are replacing beds.

Household Goods relies on collaboration with a broad range of organizations, businesses and individuals.
• We collaborate with over 300 social service agencies across Massachusetts to identify and connect with people in need of our services. Without Household Goods, many of these agencies’ clients would have housing, but would not have the basic items that make a home.
• We collaborate with Boston College to collect usable household items from students as they move out at the end of the academic year. Household Goods collects approximately 6,000 usable items in the annual two-week move-out period.
• We have ongoing relationships with other universities, moving companies, furniture retailers, clean-out companies, hotel operators, and others who donate usable furniture and other household items.
• We customize group volunteer opportunities for faith communities, corporations, and service organizations who want to volunteer as a group for a worthy cause. These organizations also hold collection drives for usable items needed to help people make a home.
• Household Goods actively works with schools and programs supporting people with disabilities to create successful and productive volunteer opportunities.
• Household Goods offers volunteer opportunities for those completing court-ordered community service.

Household Goods began in 1990 when Barbara and Ira Smith offered to help a Salvadoran refugee who fled her country with her children and little else. The Smiths posted a notice asking for usable household items for the family and offered their carport as a collection point. They were overwhelmed by the response from people who were happy to give away gently used furniture and household items. The Smiths soon became aware there were many more families in the region who could not afford basic household essentials. They began appealing to surrounding communities for donated goods, which they used to help one family at a time furnish a home and begin new lives.

Since detailed record-keeping began in 2004, Household Goods has helped over 120,000 people from 42,600 households rebuild their lives. We have provided, at no charge to the client or agency that referred them, over 630,000 essential household items such as beds, tables, chairs, sheets, towels, and kitchenware. Our team of 900 volunteers includes many who have helped advance our mission for 10 years or more.

For the past 29 years, Household Goods' reputation as an efficient and cost-effective source of support for families in need has continued to grow. Challenging economic conditions, a highly competitive housing market and the gap between wages and the cost of living confirm the ongoing need for Household Goods' services.

Since founders Barbara and Ira Smith helped their first client, Household Goods has grown to serve 2,500 households each year. With generous financial support of individual donors, local businesses, fundraising events and charitable foundations, Household Goods is able to serve these households, and the agencies that represent them, without charging a fee.