By Marsha Roberts, Co-Founder of Welcoming Home
Welcoming Home is a non-profit organization based in Marin County. They are expanding to Sonoma County in January 2021.
It fully furnishes and outfits the homes of formerly homeless families. The families in need are referred by local social service agencies. Welcoming Home provides new mattresses, beds and box springs and gets donations from local donors of gently used (in very good shape) furniture, household items and new bedding/towels. All cash donations go directly to helping the families, like for the purchase of the new beds.
One of the main goals of Welcoming Home is to involve the local community in helping these families who are their neighbors by passing along no longer needed furniture and other household goods, rather than disposing of them—and/or by purchasing and donating much- needed household items. Local volunteers arrange for the donations and set up the homes with furniture and household goods.
On January 30th, Welcoming Home will be holding its first “Welcoming Day” in Sonoma County, helping two families in Santa Rosa. On that one day they will collect all furniture/items needed and fully set up the two apartments. Yes, all in one day! And they need your help in one or more of the following ways:
- By donating furniture that’s in very good condition
- By donating new or very good condition household goods
- By volunteering in various ways:
- Sourcing the items needed from NextDoor, CraigsList, etc. and getting the sellers to donate them
- Working on the morning of the “Welcomings” at the donation drop off location (sorting, packing up, putting boxes on moving truck, etc.)
- Working on the afternoon of the “Welcoming” at the families’ apartments, setting them up (putting away kitchen items, hanging pictures, making beds, etc.)
- Being a “family lead,” in charge of vetting proposed furniture donations for quality/fit and supervising the setting up of one apartment on “Welcoming Day”
- Offering to pick up items that fit in an SUV and store them a week or so before the “Welcoming.” (for donors who will not be available on the “Welcoming Day.”)
- By spreading the word about Welcoming Home’s mission to local businesses so they can partner with them.
- Robb & Messer Moving and Storage has already volunteered to donate freemoving services for Welcoming Home’s Sonoma operations.
- St. Seraphim of Sarov Cathedral in Santa Rosa will provide the drop offlocation for donated Items on the morning of the “Welcoming.”
- Other services needed are:
- Sponsorship of a family by a school, church, group of friends, professional association, etc.
- Donations of breakfast & lunch for volunteers from a local grocery store
- Potential donation of new carpets from carpeting store
- Donation of brand new, never-used mattresses & box springs Etc.
If you’d like to know more about this wonderful non-profit, contact Marsha Roberts, Co-Founder, 415-609-3216, marsha@welcominghome.org.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Hope you can give your time and resources for this great cause.