TORONTO, ON – Furniture Bank received a $104,300 Resilient Communities Fund grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to recover from the impacts of COVID-19 by scaling up their Indigenous-led Workshop by doubling equipment and employing more at-risk people to create bedding solutions for clients.
“I’m delighted that Furniture Bank’s $104,300 OTF grant has been put to such good use, helping double its equipment, employ more people, scale up its Indigenous-led workshop and create new job opportunities for those who could use a break,” Etobicoke-Lakeshore MPP Christine Hogarth says. “And just in time for their 25th Anniversary!”
“This generous funding from OTF has helped us in our mission to break the cycle of furniture poverty in the GTA,” says Dan Kershaw, Furniture Bank’s Executive Director. “From providing more job-specific skills training and wrap around supports, to scaling up our repair and refurbishment services, to increasing the number of bed solutions we were able to create for clients, this funding will help us give our employees and families the best possible chance to succeed.”
During the pandemic, Furniture Bank’s Workshop responded to an acute community need by creating a Furniture Bank-designed solution for bed platforms using reclaimed wood. By leveraging existing partnerships with IKEA and Sleep Country, Furniture Bank was also able to provide the bedding required for truly creating a home.
OTF funding allowed Furniture Bank to continue to eliminate barriers in the attainment of meaningful work by providing trade training, and creating long-term social employment opportunities, and providing sustainable careers in the refurbishing and reupholstering field. This in turn resulted in more quality furnishings for beneficiary clients, including women and children leaving shelters, the formerly homeless, Indigenous people, those struggling with mental health, 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals, IBPOC, newcomers and refugees.
About the Ontario Trillium Foundation
The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations. Last year, nearly $112M was invested into 1,384 community projects and partnerships to build healthy and vibrant communities and strengthen the impact of Ontario’s non-profit sector. In 2020/21, OTF supported Ontario’s economic recovery by helping non-profit organizations rebuild and recover from the impacts of COVID-19. Visit otf.ca to learn more.
About Furniture Bank
Furniture Bank is a social enterprise-powered charity that provides low-income individuals and families with home essentials needed to create conditions of comfort, dignity and stability that come from having a furnished home, a service that enhances both psychological and financial stability.
Our social employment programs including Leg Up and the Workshop eliminate barriers to meaningful work by providing training, creating long-term employment opportunities, and providing sustainable careers that allow us to support more families experiencing furniture poverty.
Organization Contact for Media Inquiries:
Dan Kershaw, Executive Director
Furniture Bank
905 806 8246
dan.kershaw@furniturebank.org
