Finding New Life for Old Furniture

Nicole Bennett, The Hill’s Director of Resident Services and Development

What’s something that many residents of The Hill at Whitemarsh share? A desire to be good community stewards.

Sometimes that means helping to preserve wildlife and open spaces around the greater Philadelphia area, and sometimes that means donating furniture that’s no longer needed to a good cause.

“Our partnership with Good Haul and the Philadelphia Furniture Bank started when we were renovating the dining space and didn’t want to just throw out all of our old chairs, which were in good usable condition,” explained Nicole Bennett, Director of Resident Services and Development at The Hill. “Our Director of Facilities had an existing relationship with the Furniture Bank, and we decided to donate all of our chairs from the cafe to them.”

Both Good Haul and the Philadelphia Furniture Bank are initiatives by Pathways to Housing PA, which is an organization that provides housing and supportive services to individuals experiencing mental health challenges and chronic homelessness. Good Haul is a social enterprise operated by Pathways to Housing. They remove junk or large items after a downsize or clean-out project. Good Haul provides an additional source of furniture for the Furniture Bank and supports individuals reentering the workforce by providing job opportunities.

“We support over 60 local social service organizations by providing furniture to their clients,” said Kathryn Lipman, a Manager at Good Haul. “This allows them to focus on doing what they do best rather than spending their limited resources searching for tables or dressers.”

From downsizing to redecorating to renovations, when there’s furniture that’s no longer needed by residents at The Hill, Good Haul will take it off their hands and bring it to the Philadelphia Furniture Bank.

“It’s important to our residents and team members to not leave a huge carbon footprint,” said Nicole. “We are thoughtful about ways to pass something on instead of throwing it out. It’s also a great resource for new residents moving to The Hill because they know that their well-loved furniture will be going to a good cause.”

In addition to fulfilling sustainability goals, working together has been mutually beneficial for Good Haul. The partnership furthers the Furniture Bank’s mission of providing gently used furniture to those who have experienced homelessness.

“All of the furniture donated to the Philadelphia Furniture Bank is distributed directly to clients in Philadelphia–including veterans, youth who have aged out of foster care, women escaping domestic violence, and many others,” said Kathryn. “All of the furniture goes to our warehouse, which is set up like a furniture showroom.”

The Furniture Bank has the ability to make minor repairs, replacing drawer pulls or refinishing table tops to ensure that everything they provide to clients is “as good as new.”