We believe that everyone deserves the comfort, dignity, and stability of
a fully furnished home.

 

Our Mission

The mission of the Chicago Furniture Bank is to provide dignity, stability, and comfort to Chicagoans that face poverty by allowing clients to handpick an entire home's worth of furniture.

Who We Are

The Chicago Furniture Bank is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, founded in July of 2018, that serves as an intermediary between Chicagoans who have extra furniture and those who need it. We provide furnishing packages to our clients that include beds, couches, armchairs, dressers, desks, end tables, coffee tables, kitchen tables + chairs, dish ware, rugs, lamps, artwork, mirrors, and more.

HOW WE SERVE

Our Unique Value Proposition

The Chicago Furniture Bank helps the Chicago community in the following 4 ways:

1. Furnish Homes For People in Need

Our furnishing packages turn empty spaces into real homes. The CFB’s services allow clients to sleep in a bed and share a family meal at a kitchen table. 

  • The Chicago Furniture Bank will furnish 4,000 homes for 10,000 clients in 2022.

  • Our furnishing package given away on average costs $1,500 at resale stores. 50% of our clients annual household income is under $6,000 per year.

  • Partners with 400 local partner service agencies that refer clients to the CFB. Before the CFB 85% of our partners had no way of getting their clients furniture when moving into a new home!

2. Create Jobs for At-Risk Youth

We hire directly from nonprofit workforce development programs, providing jobs to underprivileged individuals from the same communities we serve. 

  • 23 of our 45 employees come from prominent workforce development agencies Cara, Chicago CRED, Purpose, and CAP.

  • Primarily hire at-risk young adults affected by gang violence, homelessness, and trauma that have limited opportunities in the workforce.

3. Reduce Environmental Waste

Furniture is the least recycled household item in the US. Every year over 12 million tons of furniture ends up in landfills. 

  • By distributing gently-used furniture that would otherwise be thrown away, the Chicago Furniture Bank has diverted over 3,000 tons of furniture from landfills annually.

4. Provide a Convenient Removal Service to Donors

Give both corporations and residential households an easy way to give back to families in need and reduce waste.

  • By ensuring furniture goes directly to families in need, we provide donors with a tax-deductible, feel good way to declutter.