Greetings BB16:
The first thought I had for your donations was a local center for
abused women. In my area, these centers do not sell donations but
give them to women who have left an abusive environment "on the run"
and have nothing with which to begin a new household.
In that vein, I searched the Internet and discovered the Healthworks
Foundation in Boston, "Women Helping Women." They are partnered and
in support of the organizations located at
http://www.healthworksfoundation.org/outreach.htm . I located the
name of the organization in an article at
http://www.townonline.com/beverly/arts_lifestyle/
arts_lifestyle/bev_newbchair07022003.htm - from there I searched the
organization by name.
I phoned the Healthworks Foundation and explained that I was looking
for a place to donate furniture that would be redistributed as opposed
to sold. The lady who answered said that they work with this type of
donation and she put me through to the voice mail of Mandy Choi of the
Community Outreach Program. I found the contact information for
Healthworks at http://www.healthworksfoundation.org/contact.htm
CONTACT INFO:
Healthworks Foundation
441 Stuart Street, 4th Floor
Boston, MA 02116
(617) 859-8700
I received Ms. Choi's voice mail so I left a message with my phone
number. I hope to hear from her soon to ascertain if they need
furniture and if they will pick it up at your location.
After that, I phoned the HAWC directly and while they would love to
have the furniture to redistribute, they have no way to pick it up.
The lady I spoke with said "it's a problem we're dealing with" but it
may be that Mandy knows of another organization that can pick up the
items.
HWAC CONTACT:
Help for Abused Women and Their Children (HAWC)
27 Congress Street, Salem MA 01970
Telephone (978) 744-8552
Fax (978) 745-6886
mailto:
http://www.helpabusedwomen.org
I then looked on the list from
http://www.healthworksfoundation.org/outreach.htm at Healthworks and
contacted the Elizabeth Stone House at 617-522-3659 to see if they did
this kind of pick-up. I spoke with a nice lady named Deb and she told
me that they didn't do that but she gave me the number of an
organization that does. :)
The Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance (CMHA) offers free pick-up
and delivery of furniture for the homeless through their Donations
Clearinghouse. They have a large warehouse and when a woman leaves a
shelter or a homeless family is assisted, they are able to go to the
warehouse and choose the household items and furniture the need to
begin a new life. No charge! A wonderful and necessary program.
The contact information for the Donations Clearinghouse is
508-791-7265, extension 22. The text at
http://www.cmhaonline.org/live-connect/index.cfm?parentID=2&navID=2
reads in part:
"Welcome to the Central Mass Housing Alliances Donations Clearinghouse
section of our web site. The DCH picks up donations of furniture and
household goods and distributes them free of charge to families and
individuals in need. If you'd like to schedule a pick up or contact
us, please call 508-791-7265, ext 22."
Were I you, I'd go ahead and arrange for a pick-up on a date closely
following your sale. That way you'll be on their schedule now and
won't have to wait long to get the items to those who need them.
I applaud you for choosing this method instead of a resale charity and
thank you for the opportunity to assist in your generosity. Should
you require any clarification of the links or information I have
provided, please request it before closing and rating this question
and I'll be happy to assist you further. If Ms. Choi returns my call
and provides the name of another organization like the CMHA that meets
your criteria, I'll post it here for you.
Best regards,
journalist-ga
SEARCH STRATEGY:
Boston charity abused women
"Help for Abused Women and Children" massachusetts
"Elizabeth Stone House"
"Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance" donations clearinghouse |
