Just imagine if you were homeless through bad luck or illness. If you weren’t actually on the streets, you might be living in a homeless shelter or in your car. Now imagine you found an apartment with the help of one of the many housing agencies in the area. It’s wonderful that you now have a safe roof over your head, but you probably don’t have a bed, a sofa, or a table. No kitchen utensils or even towels. Unfortunately, there are rarely any county, state, or federal resources to help you.
That’s where Welcoming Home comes in. We transform empty apartments into homes for people escaping homelessness and poverty. Over the past eight years, we’ve helped over 400 individuals and families in Sonoma and Marin counties by coordinating donations from the community and furnishing their homes.
An inspiring example is Irene, a single mother from Santa Rosa with a 14-year-old son. They had been living in shelters and were finally able to settle into their own apartment with the help of Catholic Charities of Santa Rosa (one of our facilitation agencies). But they had very little furniture and nothing to cook with. Irene works full-time at a gas station, but it is still a challenge for her to pay the rent and her income has not been able to buy all the things they need.
Welcoming Home recently decorated the space they now call home and the pictures speak volumes, especially their happy smiles. Irene was a little overwhelmed by the transformation, like many of our clients. But when families see their newly decorated spaces, there are always beaming faces, joy and hugs. And our volunteers say they get just as much, if not more, from the experience.
We want to create a comfortable place where people can sleep, eat together, do homework and relax. Having that will give them the confidence to get on with their lives. It’s easy to imagine how comfortable it is to live in a welcoming, cozy home. Just imagine getting ready for work without such a home and you realize how important it is. Oh, and two cool side benefits: we’re engaging the local community in helping their neighbors while reducing the amount of used furniture and household goods that end up in landfills.
Yes, all of this is hard work. We do it through our amazing volunteers and donations of cash and used furniture from Sonoma County neighbors like you. If that sounds great, visit welcomehome.org; there are many ways to help us. You can donate furniture, volunteer, sponsor a welcome, join our mailing list, or simply donate, because every dollar helps.
If you really want to help, we are specifically looking for “Home Leads” in Sonoma County. A Home Lead coordinates the setup of a home in Santa Rosa for a previously homeless family. Working with other volunteers, they visit the family to assess needs, review furniture donations, ensure all needed items are secured, and oversee the setup of the home on Welcoming Day. If you are interested, please contact [email protected]. This is a permanent position.
