More than a simple basket

Welcome Home Baskets are a small but significant part of every delivery we make to a family in need. These simple laundry baskets or cleaning buckets are filled with basic home cleaning items and paper products. But they are so much more than a simple basket.

This small gesture is one of love. It says to the family that they are not just a recipient of some needed furniture for their apartment or rental home, but they are LOVED! Though it fills such a great need, as cleaning and paper products are quite costly and any help in that is huge…it shows these families that we don’t want them to just sleep and eat in a more fitting environment, but we want them to feel at home. Completely at home.

We were blessed recently to have Perimeter School contribute 12 baskets from 10 families as part of the PCS Serve Day that they do every year. Families in their school sign up to participate in serving or giving to an organization in the community and once again, they rose to the occasion. We also love that these Welcome Home Baskets give children and families a way to serve together and create conversations between parents and children about giving to others who are not as fortunate as they may be at this point in their lives.

Thank you Perimeter School and all the families that helped out with these baskets. We know that as they go out to families in need on our delivery days, they will be so much more than simple baskets — they will be showing the love of Christ in a real tangible way.

We’d love to invite you to get a group together and make Welcome Home Baskets to donate to FFM! Some ideas of items to include in your basket are: paper towels, toilet paper, kitchen sponge, dishwasher pods, dish soap, disinfectant spray or wipes, all-purpose cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, toilet bowl brush, laundry pods, & can opener (you could also include some personal hygiene items: bar soap, toothpaste, shampoo).

Baskets can be dropped off at the FFM warehouse in Norcross, Tuesday - 10:00 am and 12:00 noon, or Friday and Saturday - 10:00 am and 1:00pm. Please contact John Dance to make arrangements for either day. THANK YOU!

Starting all over

Oftentimes, we have people wonder and ask, “How does someone need a whole apartment of furniture?” or “How is it that someone has a child or children sleeping on the floor?”

Though the answer is rarely the same, and every person we serve has a different story, there is hardship in every single one. And for some, the answer is simply “I’m starting all over.” There are differing circumstances for why they are having to start all over — off the top of my head, I can name a few, like house fires, domestic abuse, homelessness, job loss, the domino effect that leads to the loss of a storage unit, and more. And nearly all of these cases of needs come through our incredible community partners who are addressing other areas of need for those families and we can step in to fill in the “furnishings” piece of the puzzle.

For this single mom of 5 pictured below, she was thrilled to have us step in and help in the process of starting over in her life. We delivered a bunk bed, dresser and sofa to fill in a bit of her starting over puzzle. In the same day, we delivered to another single mom who had suffered domestic abuse and was starting over with her 3 kids. They received 2 twin beds, 2 dressers and 2 night stands to give her children a “real room” in which to live.

Pray for these families in our communities that are starting over. They’ve been through a lot of hurts and are finally in a place where they can start fresh and make a new life for themselves and their children. And if you’re interested in getting involved through your time, talent and treasure, click around our website and find the area where you can give!

Click here to donate your time and talent as a volunteer, either moving furniture or refurbishing it.

Click here to donate your treasure of furnishings. Click here to donate your treasure of finances.

Bringing faith into a moment

This family of 4 couldn’t have been more happy to see us at the front door of their apartment one Saturday morning. The mom with two little boys had recently secured an apartment and then found herself welcoming her mom into the home as well, after her father’s passing. She has a steady job, but definitely struggles as a single parent providing for two children. Her mom had sat by her father’s side as he fought cancer and then passed away. They decided it was best to move in with one another.

When we arrived, the kids had big smiles as they opened the door and saw us bringing down furniture to their door. The two boys had been sleeping in a cot and travel pop-up crib and were ready for a real bed. The grandmother had been sleeping in her single bed in the living room. Her bed had become the hangout spot in front of the tv. The three of them were more than excited to bunk together in a room after getting a whole set of living room furniture. The mom couldn’t believe the full dining set we could squeeze into their small apartment eat-in kitchen.

The woman and her mom shared with us how faith had been a part of their family many years ago. But after some hurtful treatment from others, they had put it to the side. The grandmother wore a cross and shared how her church was in her heart. The mom was touched by our group prayer together outside her door at the end of our time there, saying they hadn’t prayed in that way since her grandfather (a pastor) had passed away.

Meeting families in need and being able to not only fulfill a practical need, but bring faith back into their lives, even just in that moment, is such an incredible gift and opportunity for us as a ministry—to ultimately show them that love from God is what motivates us to help others and God is ready and waiting for them to answer his knock on the door.

Please join us in praying for this family and other families we serve. Pray that we would have more conversations of faith with those that need to hear and that the love of Christ will be what they see.

If you would like to join our Hearts Team and go out on deliveries to speak with and pray with recipient families, click here and we’ll get you scheduled for a serve day: Hearts Team.

A Christmas Eve delivery gone right!

On Dec 21, we were contacted by one of our new partners, Furnished With Love, asking if we could partner with them in a need they couldn’t fulfill. They were working with a single mom and her daughter in securing an apartment after living for several years in hotels. This family was in need of all essentials because they lost their storage unit about a year ago where they had been storing their furniture.

Our answer? Yes! This is what we do!

It took a lot of communication and coordinating, but on Christmas Eve, at 4:30 PM, through the hands, feet, and hearts of a amazing volunteers, Jesus came to this house.

Partnering with other organizations, mobilizing volunteers, and having donated furnishings ready to go is what makes our ministry reach those most in need. And now, with having our own truck, we can answer these needs in their most desperate moments.

If you’d like to learn more about volunteering in a variety of ways throughout the week and weekend, click here: https://fullyfurnishedministries.org/volunteer

Virtual Giving is here

We’re excited to offer you the opportunity to give virtually this year! We’ve put together a list of 9 items and our typical costs associated with these individual items. All of these contribute to fully furnishing families in need in our community. Simply take a browse and pick which item(s) you’d like to give as a gift. Then click here to make your choice — write in your custom $ amount and the name of the item in the comment box to indicate your choice. Remember, every donation is tax deductible. As always, THANK YOU for giving generously and making our ministry happen. We couldn’t do it without you!

Mattress Pad & Cover

Volunteers Snacks for Month

Office Needs for Month

Linens Cleaning for Month

Warehouse Utilities for Month

Truck Fuel for Month

Truck Rental for Month

Fully Furnish a Family

Warehouse Rent for Month

Make your choice then click here to give! THANK YOU!

Just in time for Christmas

On December 11th, 5 days after she moved into a home, we delivered much-needed furnishings to a wonderful woman in the Motel to Home program we partner with -- just in time for Christmas! She decided to share her story to encourage others, something difficult for her to do. We were blessed to provide her with a full bed and bedding, a 3-piece sectional sofa, 4 bar stools, a work desk and chair, linens & kitchen cookware. Read Kendra’s story in her own words (name changed for privacy).

Telling your tough life story is never easy. No one wants the world to see them at their lowest. But once you have been inspired by someone else’s great story, you realize your story too could be one of those great stories that may help inspire others.

I am 42 years old, college educated, employed at $22 per hour, and homeless. I would have never imagined that this would be me- I knew better. I paid my bills, I took good care of my children, I always gave to charity. What have I done to end up living in an extended stay motel with my two children? I’m not on drugs, I don’t engage in criminal activity, so how did I get here was my daily question.

I wanted to blame my teenage son and all the trouble he had been causing. I wanted to blame my son’s father for never paying child support. I even wanted to blame my mother since she has been on crack for over 40 years and didn’t give me the best head start in life overall. I wanted to blame a lot of people and a lot of things, until I realized that it was choices made by only myself that landed me here, and it was time to make better choices, and heal pieces of myself that caused me to not be focused on my goals as I should.

Living in an extended stay motel was a huge challenge, but with the help of The Motel to Home program, I was able to meet others whose stories inspired me to keep striving for the best life possible for myself and my children. MTH program encouraged our family with prayer & hope as they assisted my family in some of our darkest hours. They supplied food, school supplies, financial support, educational & community resources and stayed the course from homelessness to home ownership. 

After 2yrs and 3 months living in an extended stay motel, I am more than proud to say that my family will be moving into a 3-bedroom house on Sunday. It was time consuming and a more difficult challenge to find a home whilst remaining in the Norcross City limit given the housing barriers we had to overcome, so our family is moving to Douglasville, Ga. Yet  the amazing MTH program & The Fully Furnished program is continuing to assist our family. MTH has made this holiday one that we will never forget. They have offered to supply our family with many much-needed household items and furniture, despite not finding a home within the Norcross City Limits.

To GOD is all the glory and may the mission of the MTH program thrive and survive for many more years to come, I honestly don’t think I could have done this without all the continued support from the MTH program, gratitude will dwell in my heart forever.

Every donation you make helps families in situations like Kendra. Families that somehow find themselves at a low in life and need help in their time of need. Children that need help for their parents to provide a real home. Thank you for your gifts in 2020 and for your continued support of our ministry, as we partner with other ministries to reach even more in need.

If you’d like to make a financial donation to help us start 2021 ready to serve more, please click here.

Keeping families safe & together [The Drake House: Partner Highlight]

“More than 10,000 people in the Atlanta area experience homelessness on an given night. Over 40% of Atlanta’s homeless population are women and children.”

In order to help combat this, Fully Furnished Ministries works closely with The Drake House, a non-profit in Roswell, GA that provides a lifeline of supportive housing and enrichment programs for single mothers and their children experiencing homelessness in north metro Atlanta.

Fully Furnished Ministries has been in partnership with The Drake House since 2010. To date, we have provided furnishings to more than 100 families through them! In fact, in September, we had the opportunity to help one woman and her children in The Drake House by providing a sofa, love seat, coffee table, two end tables, a dining table with four chairs, two computer desks w/chairs and a dresser.

Dianne Berry from The Drake House shares with us, "We involve members of our community in the effort to keep single mothers and their children united under one roof as they work toward self-sufficiency. We are the only agency in the region offering a private crisis-housing program. Every year, our private housing serves two apartment buildings with 50 families and 100 children, and whenever we have a need for furnishings for these women and children, FFM is there and ready to help!"

Dianne Berry

Operations Manager, The Drake House

Find out more about The Drake House and the amazing programs they have and ways you can help here on their website: https://thedrakehouse.org/.

Two families whose lives changed on a Saturday.

5 beds, 9 night stands, 5 dressers, 8 lamps, a sofa, loveseat, 2 side chairs, a coffee table, 2 end tables, a dining table with chairs, a rug and lamps.

It was a full truck that everyone stood amazed at. How did those guys fit all that in there? But the really amazing part was where those pieces of furniture would be at the end of the day, and how those two families’ lives would completely change.

The Brookover Family. This single mom with 6 kids under her roof was facing incredible hardship after flooding and mold forced her family out of their home.

The Chen Family. This mom and dad with 3 kids faced an unbelievable turn of events one night in their apartment complex. After a man under the influence of drugs set his apartment on fire and left (which quickly spread to the other units), he then returned with his car and hit this woman and her daughter who were waiting on the sidewalk to escape the fire. After recovering, they were left with nothing. Read the story here on WSBTV.

Through our partnership with Unite - Norcross/Peachtree Corners, we found out about these two families and were thrilled to be able to help them and provide the furniture that they so desperately needed.

Whether you gave one of these pieces of furniture, gave money donations for the truck, restored one of these pieces, or used your hands to move them around to get to these families — you made this happen! It’s takes the pieces working together as a whole to make it happen. THANK YOU!

Pray for these two families as they settle into their homes and continue to heal physically and emotionally.