Furniture Bank Fills Homes, Warms Hearts

COLUMBUS, Ohio—For more than 10 years, one local organization has been busy helping those in need turn their living quarters into home sweet home.

Five years ago after incarceration and spending some time in a halfway house, Rodney Swanigan visited the Map Furniture Bank when he needed help to furnish his new apartment.

“When I started picking things out, it was like, ‘Wow, there is no catch?‘,“ Swanigan said. “And the man said to me, ‘Whatever you want, you’ve got 15 minutes.‘“

Swanigan said it was those 15 minutes that changed his life and that he still has many of the pieces in his home today.

The Map Furniture Bank, located on South Yale Street, is the second largest free furniture bank in the country.

Clients are given 15 minutes to shop in a showroom filled with household items worth two, three or four points, with a 40-point maximum total. 

Furnishing the homes of 3,800 clients last year alone, Map Furniture Bank ships out thousand of items to clients daily.

The furniture bank accepts donations of everything from sofas, tables and chairs to lamps, appliances and linens from private parties, hotels and companies.

Melinda Blakie, a former teacher who helps young people learn life lessons as they sort and organize the boxes of donated items, has been a volunteer at the Map Furniture Bank for years.

“I think they’re seeing the fact that there are people out there that they can help,“ Blakie said. “I think a lot of them do realize that they could be in that same situation.“

Becky Elliot, a member of the furniture bank’s community relations, told NBC 4 how grateful they are for volunteers like Blakie.

“Melinda is a fabulous volunteer,“ Elliot said. “We rely a tremendous amount on the volunteers to help us out. As you can imagine, being a non-profit, we could not do everything ourselves.“

If you would like more information about the Map Furniture Bank, click here.

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