Flourish Furniture Bank
Where Compassion Meets Sustainability
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The problem that Flourish Furniture Bank (Flourish) aims to solve is the inability of those who are financially under-resourced to obtain essential furniture and home goods, such as mattresses and cookware. In 2022, Flourish served 881 households composed of 2,244 people (including 1,085 children). 82% of our clients had recently reestablished housing after being unhoused and were struggling to barely survive. Getting off the streets is critical, but it is only the first step toward housing stability. Those who live in empty apartments, sleep on the floor, and face difficulty preparing a meal without the use of pots, pans, and dishes aren't able to live healthy, dignified lives. Their limited financial resources must be used for many competing needs, such as housing, childcare, and food, leaving little for home furnishings. By obtaining essential home goods from Flourish, our clients' housing stability is quickly and dramatically improved.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Furnishings for the Entire Home
Flourish Furniture Bank (Flourish) is the only furniture bank in the Kansas City area. Flourish provides essential furniture and home furnishings to individuals and families who have obtained housing, but due to limited financial resources, are unable to purchase basic household goods, like bedframes, mattresses, kitchen tables, sofas, lamps, linens, and cookware.
Flourish partners with over 70 referral organizations (including domestic violence agencies, mental health centers, and homeless shelters) to serve clients fighting for housing stability. Through a supportive and personalized shopping experience, Flourish empowers clients to select furniture and furnishings based on their own needs and preferences, free of charge – to fill their home with items that they have been unable to obtain through their own limited resources.
Where we work
Awards
Brilliance in Resilience-Small Organization 2020
Nonprofit Connect
Philly Awards-Gold Award for Social Media Brand Management (small organization division) 2021
Nonprofit Connect
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of households furnished
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Low-income people, Homeless people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of furniture and household goods provided
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Low-income people, Homeless people
Related Program
Furnishings for the Entire Home
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Items that we provide include mattresses, bedframes, tables, chairs, upholstered furniture, dressers, lamps, linens, cookware, microwaves, dishes, and small appliances.
Total number of volunteer hours contributed to the organization
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Low-income people, Homeless people, Refugees and displaced people
Related Program
Furnishings for the Entire Home
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of tons of furniture diverted from a landfill
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We determined the weight of furniture that was provided to our clients and that otherwise may have gone to a landfill, with the assistance of Bridging the Gap.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Some of Flourish's goals for 2023 are to:
- Serve 969 households (a 10% increase from the 881 households served in 2022) composed of 2,455 and estimated individuals
- Continue to provide a supportive, dignified shopping experience where all clients are welcomed as "guests" and treated humbly and respectfully.
- Distribute 38,280 items, including mattresses and bedframes, sofas and other upholstered furniture, kitchen tables and chairs, dressers, linens (including blankets, sheet sets, and towel sets), microwaves, small kitchen appliances, bakeware, and cookware.
- Increase awareness of our organization, especially in Jackson County, Missouri. We must clearly define a need many people are unaware of: the importance of essential home goods for housing stability and physical and mental health.
- Provide volunteer opportunities and training to achieve a goal of 25,000 hours of service.
- Better serve our clients and partner referral agencies by initiating a limited furniture delivery service. Currently, the referring agency and the client are responsible for securing a truck and providing the people to deliver the furniture to the client's home. For some agencies and clients, furniture delivery is a significant barrier to using our services.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We are adding a morning of service to provide two additional weekly appointment times to serve 88 more clients than in 2022. Training will be provided to ensure that our clients are treated with care and respect, especially to our volunteer "hosts" who work directly with clients as they shop.
To distribute home goods, we first must collect them. Collecting enough furniture and furnishings to provide an entire home full of furniture to nearly 1,000 residences annually is a monumental challenge that we continually tackle! Our strategies to do so include the following:
- Hiring our first paid truck driver to assist our volunteer pick-up crews. We can collect furniture from 200-250 additional locations.
- Increasing corporate partnerships with furniture stores, thrift stores, colleges, hotels, and other organizations that are capable of providing a large volume of donated goods.
- Continuing to partner with another organization that assists us with pick-ups.
- Leaving brightly colored collection bins at select businesses, churches, and clubs around the city, where small donated items (such as linens and small appliances) can easily be dropped off.
- Advertising the ability to drop off donations at our warehouse.
- Adding 22 additional zip codes to our collection area
Flourish’s strategic marketing plan includes increasing awareness of the organization by seeking interviews with local media. Rich Shockey, Flourish's Executive Director, will also make frequent presentations to clubs, businesses, and faith groups. Other plans for 2023 include the following:
- Beginning an "Every Door Direct Mailer Postcard Campaign." We will send postcards with information about Flourish and a coupon for free furniture pick-up to 15,000 residences in Jackson County, Missouri.
- Enhancing our two box trucks and cargo van (that currently have plain white sides), with brightly colored advertising wraps displaying our name and logo. We are excited for our pick-up teams to be able to spread awareness as they drive around the city!
To establish our limited furniture delivery service, we plan to:
- Establish a delivery fee to help fund our added expenses
- Utilize the truck driver that we intend to hire to assist with deliveries
- Recruit volunteers from businesses and faith-based groups to assist with deliveries. They will see first-hand how transforming an empty dwelling into a fully furnished home impacts our clients.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Flourish is well-positioned to achieve its goals. We continue to work from a 28,000-square-foot facility and are supported by 365 volunteers who provide the vast majority of the labor. As we become more well-known in the community, we are receiving expanded financial support from many organizations and individuals. We will add two additional weekly shopping appointments to our schedule to reach our goal of serving 969 clients in 2023. We have a training program for our volunteers that has been updated and improved. We have confirmation that we will receive funding to hire a truck driver later in the year and have already received our advertising-wrapped collection bins to collect additional inventory. Funding for our marketing campaign in Jackson County has been committed. Our relationships with partner referral agencies are based on mutual admiration and respect.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Flourish is moving into the next stage of its evolution. We are working to expand so that we can better meet the demand of those who need our services. Some of what we have already accomplished includes:
- Served 881 households in 2022 (an increase of 120 from the 760 served in 2021), impacting the lives of 2,244 individuals (including 1,085 children).
- Expanded the board of directors from seven to a more diversified nine members.
- Provided 34,797 items, including mattresses, bedframes, sofas, upholstered chairs, kitchen tables and chairs, dressers, linens, small appliances, and cookware.
- Increased the number of volunteers from 317 in 2021 to 365 in 2022. Our wonderful volunteers provided 22,726 hours of service, valued at $680,643!
- Began an enhanced training program for volunteers who work directly with clients as they shop. The training includes a poverty simulation, trauma-informed care, and discussion regarding systemic racism and injustice and how Flourish can best provide a welcoming, supportive, and caring environment for everyone we serve.
- Worked with a consultant who holds a Ph.D. in Evaluation to review and improve case manager and client surveys that will be used in 2023. Our goal is to better understand furniture's impact on our clients' physical and mental health and determine how it contributes to home stability.
The Flourish staff and volunteers are excited about the "what's next"! We continue to meet wonderful, caring people in the community who want to make a difference in the lives of those most vulnerable and under-resourced. We are inspired by the strength and resilience of our clients and greatly admire the case managers from agencies throughout the city who refer them to us. We are confident that we will continue to grow and become more able to meet the needs of additional individuals and families in the years to come.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Flourish Furniture Bank
Board of directorsas of 03/09/2023
Mr. Steve Warta
Roadmap Wealth Management
Term: 2022 - 2025
Gene Lampe
Garmin International
Carol Cartmill
Resurrection, A United Methodist Church
Yvette Richards
St. James UMC
Amy Rush
CommunityAmerica CUSO One, LLC
Michael Dehner
CommunityAmerica Credit Union
Janine Smiley
CruxKC
Cori Wallace
Della Lamb Community Services
Rick Washington
Allen Village Charter School
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Not applicable -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
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