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Community Corner

Furnishing Options in Need of Donations

Have household furniture you don't need or want? Furnishing Options, a local nonprofit, needs your help.

It may be hard to imagine coming home to an empty, unfurnished house. Imagine a home that is simply vast empty space without any domestic features. Imagine not having the proper furniture and tools for a good night's sleep and a balanced meal. For many families, these simple luxuries are out of reach, but with the help of Furnishing Options, dreams of a complete home can become a reality.

was founded in 2009 when concerned community members saw the need for furniture and other household goods for low-income families. This idea was then teamed up with Employment Options in Marlborough. Employment Options offers types of life coaching for those coping with the effects of mental illness and low incomes. Together, those recovering from mental illness and low income families can receive even more benefits - social skills to succeed and the materials to live a better life. In fact, some people who attend these trainings use Furnishing Options as a vocational training. There they learn customer service and inventory management, many moving on to get a job and/or attend college and coming back to volunteer.

Food to be eaten and a roof above one's head may seem most important, but for Director of Furnishing Options, Diane Brooks Ring, furniture possesses more significance than taking up space in a house and adding a decorative flair. "Social issues and self-esteem are enhanced as people are proud of the place they call home," said Ring.

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Ring regards giving these items to families in need as one of the most meaningful experiences of her life, "Time and time again, I have seen the gratitude and joy that people have to find the items they need."

Furnishing Options was fortunate enough to have the owner of the Frye Building, Branch Yules, donate space for Furnishing Options. "Mr. Yules and his team were inspired and have worked hard to convert this building from a destructive source of activity that plagued Marlborough for decades into a constructive source of activity," Ring explained.

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Furnishing Options is located on 66 Mechanic Street in Marlborough and is always in need of dining room tables, chairs, sofas and housewares, but are currently in urgent need of linens, dressers and bureaus, and small kitchen tables. With the help of members of the community, Furnishing Options can provide a better future for those in need. As Ring recalled one recipients reaction, "'I left my house this morning and it was empty. Now I can go back and it's a home. To be able to wake up tomorrow and put clothes in a bureau and have plates to eat off of and silverware, it's amazing. I'm back up and running again.'"

For more information and to learn how you can get involved, visit www.furnishingoptions.org.

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