Charity struggles to keep up with demand to furnish refugees' homes

Refugee families arriving in Winnipeg don't only need a roof over their heads they also need beds to sleep on and tables to eat at.One charity is stepping up, but its volunteers can't keep up with demand for delivery of used furniture.

Hands of Hope is a registered charity thathas been providing free furniture to low income families for the last 15 years.

Many of the recipientsare single mothersand immigrants, but this year the office has been busier than ever because of new refugees settling in Winnipeg.

"We're very busy.Sometimes weget a 100 calls a day," said Hands of Hope founder CharlesNorris.

"When people get housing it's not much of a house if there's nothing in it, and so we deliver them furniture and then it becomes a home."

Thewarehouse at the Hands of Hope office is packed with couches, bed frames,tables, lampsand otherhouseholditems ready to go tofamilies who need it. But the organization can't get the donatedfurniture out to familiesfast enough.

"There's lots of people we have to tell them to wait and some of them we never get to, unfortunately," said Norris.

He said many of the calls are also coming from other charities or settlement agencies like Welcome Place looking for unwantedfurniture.

On Monday, staff from Hands of Hope delivered a couchto a new Syrian family who livein a two-bedroom suite at the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitobaon Ellen Street.

'Thank you, Canada'

Yahia Al Hamaliand his wife, Nour Salim, are government-sponsored refugees who arrived in Winnipeg in December of 2016with their five-year-old son,Shadi.

Al Hamalisaid he is very happy to finally have some furniture in his new home.

"Thank you, Canada," said Shadi, as he sat on the couch delivered to his family.

MarynaPrystaiko, a co-ordinator at Hands of Hope, said she met Al Hamali through another Syrian family that livein the building.

She said Hamaliis currently taking English classes so he can find a job and support his family.

"We help a lot of people in this building," Prystaiko said.

"It's wonderful, just amazing to see how happy they areso they don't have to think about furniture, so they can move forward," she said.

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Right now the organization has fourfull-time employeesand about a handful of volunteers on any given day to help deliver furniture to immigrant families.

But the organization needs more volunteers to keep up with the demand.

"We are in need of volunteers to help repair the furniture, sometimes the tables mayneed legs attachedor dressersthat may need drawers fixed," Norrissaid.

Refurbished and delivered

The items most needed right noware kitchen chairs, dining tables, cutlery and pots and pans.

The organization gets some funding through the Winnipeg Foundation and relies on donations from the public andlocal church groups.

"We pick up furniture from people who want to donate it, refurbish it if necessary, and then deliver it to peoplethat are in need," Norris said.

The organization also provides workshops for immigrant families once a year that shows them how to assemble or repair their ownfurniture.

Norris said he's still touched by how the familiesreactwhen his staffshow up attheirdoor.

"They're very happy. Some of them are in tears.They're so pleased that somebody thought about them," said Norris. "They certainly wouldn't have got that help in the country they came from."