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From Blanchet House to Community Warehouse – Centering Dignity Each Step of the Journey
Blanchet House is one of the 200+ social service agencies that Community Warehouse partners with to provide comfort and dignity to neighbors overcoming adversity.
David Lindo, Case Manager and former resident at Blanchet House
In 2022, David Lindo took a brave step by joining the Blanchet House Residential Program, seeking sobriety, shelter, employment, and healing.
“I didn’t want to go back to being homeless, I needed change, and I wanted to work on my sobriety,” David shared.
Blanchet House met David where he was at, by providing a place to stay as well as essential items like clothing and shoes.
Blanchet House accepts new and gently-used adult-sized clothing donations to give out to its guests actively experiencing homelessness and residents living at the house. The items that Blanchet House takes in must be of good quality, suitable for outdoor living, and in respectable condition. While higher standards may limit what can be accepted, the positive impact is well worth the effort. Blanchet House’s donation program centers the needs and dignity of its guests, most of whom know what it’s like to be treated less than others. Providing clean, good-quality clothing is one small yet powerful way of saying “you matter.”
At Blanchet House, David gained work experience by serving in the meal program’s kitchen while having access to financial and legal support, a community of sober peers, and a case manager who helped him access employment and education. After 18 months, David secured a full-time job and saved enough to rent a studio apartment in Portland.
While securing housing was a big victory, his quest for stability was not over. At the time, David only owned what he could keep in a shared room at Blanchet House. Upon receiving the keys to his studio apartment, he was met with an empty room—no bed to sleep on, no items to cook with. The cost of outfitting an apartment is extremely prohibitive when the majority of one’s hard-earned income must go toward rent, food, and other immediate necessities. (The average cost to furnish a one-bedroom apartment is $5,000.) This is where Community Warehouse came in.
Local furniture bank Community Warehouse collects gently-used furniture and household items from the community and distributes them to folks overcoming adversity such as addiction, domestic violence, political violence, or other challenging life circumstances that cause a need for furnishings. Community Warehouse partners with over 200 local agencies, including Blanchet House. After attending an initial orientation, case managers can schedule appointments at the furniture bank with their clients to pick out things for their homes like mattresses, sofas, dining tables, blankets, cookware, coffee makers, and even wall art.
Like Blanchet House, dignity is at the core of Community Warehouse’s mission. “When it comes to donations, we like to say ‘We’re picky and proud of it!’” Communications Manager Phil Gerigscott remarks. “What we mean by that is we take our mission very seriously and want families to feel good about the items they pick out when visiting our furniture bank.”
While this higher standard means that Community Warehouse must graciously turn items away at times, it also means that every item Community Warehouse accepts has the potential to impact a life in a very tangible way. “Most of the items that enter our furniture bank end up in clients’ homes between 2-48 hours of being donated,” Gerigscott says. “Donating your gently-used mattress one afternoon could prevent someone from sleeping on the floor that very same night.”
David recalls his visit to the furniture bank, “I got a really nice bed from Community Warehouse that I look forward to sleeping on every night. It’s a good brand too. I don’t know where I would have gotten a bed otherwise. I got a desk, lamp, and most of my kitchen things like a toaster came from Community Warehouse.”
“I don’t know where I would have gotten a bed otherwise.”
Through support and resilience, David has accomplished a lot since 2022 and is grateful for the meaningful work he’s now able to do.
“I’m proud of my career choice as a Case Manager helping to serve the community,” he reflects. “I was able to gain this education because of my stay at Blanchet House.”
Addressing our city’s housing crisis requires collaborative efforts between organizations, government officials, and all of our community; it requires building bridges and centering the dignity of all our neighbors every step of the way.
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