Twin Cities Housing Problem Flies Under Public Radar

Nov. 11, 2009 - PRLog -- Thankfully, many economically challenged families don’t have to live on the streets.  But although they do have a place to call home, it’s not uncommon for space to be severely limited, amenities to be scarce, and for children to be forced to sleep on the floor.

Bridging”, the locally operated non-profit organization that specializes in recycling household items to these families unable to obtain them on their own, serviced over 5,000 families and 17,000 individuals last year alone and those numbers continue to trend upward in a depressed economy.  The greatest challenge of course is supplying the items to meet the increasing demand.  Particularly difficult, is obtaining items most useable in children’s rooms such as twin beds, twin mattresses, and  dressers.

Many of the beds and furniture the organization receives come from residential and corporate donors, yet few of the donations adequately serve the needs of children and their generally smaller bedrooms.  The twin beds and space saving dressers that they do receive usually don’t last very long in the warehouse and are quickly picked up by the fortunate few that get to them at the time they come in.

A potential solution to this problem has come in the form of a partnership with a Twin Cities furniture store that specializes in children’s furniture.  Totally Kids, headquartered in Bloomington, has a showroom that’s teeming with bunk beds and twin beds with storage systems designed to maximize limited space.  By working together, Bridging and Totally Kids hope to bring more of these rarely donated items to the people who need them.  The store will be hosting an ongoing furniture drive throughout the month of November and a special emphasis will be placed on the donation of items targeted for kids.

“We’re a small business trying to negotiate these tough times ourselves,” said Totally Kids’ Operations Manager, Annie Seberson, “so it’s not a situation where we can just reach into the register and make a donation.  What we can do however, is call on our community and our customers and try to help Bridging get the items they need the most.”

Totally Kids feels that they hold a unique position to be able to help in this regard.  Easily identifiable as a child-friendly business and one that specializes in home furnishings at that, they have a lot of parents come through their door that are looking to redecorate a room and that means there will likely be some things that have to go.  They will be offering a 10% discount on any purchases that accompany a donation, big or small, to say thanks to the customers that take the time to bring those things down.  

For their part, Bridging will provide a full length trailer to collect the items and at the end of the donation drive,  take them away, and recycle them to families in need.  Both parties will be doing their best to spread the word and counting on strong community support to fill the truck and meet their goal.

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Totally Kids is a children's furniture and toy store located in Minneapolis. With an expansive online storefront, they can service customers all over the world.