 |
 |
 |
 Home | Hotels | Dining | Attractions | Real Estate | Nightlife | History | People | Shopping
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Visitor Information |
|
Photographs by Skye Dunlap Phil and Deborah VanPoetsch fill a niche by delivering furniture to needy local families. Heart & Home A Cupertino couple heads up a one-of-a-kind charity By Julie Wang Holiday generosity and good cheer do not always come in a cardboard box wrapped in shiny paper. In fact, as Cupertino resident Phil VanPoetsch discovered, some of the best presents don't have to come in packages at all. As the founder and director of the New Start Furniture Fund, VanPoetsch heads the only nonprofit organization in California that provides donated furniture to needy families and individuals. "Providing furniture is where it's at, because there's no other organization like it," VanPoetsch says. Deborah VanPoetsch, Phil's wife, who oversees the organization's finances, agrees. "It was such a good idea that I just totally supported it from the beginning. We both knew that this was the way to go. It's really a family affair." The organization serves an array of clients, including fire victims, the formerly homeless, abused individuals and single-parent families, who cannot afford to furnish their own homes. All clients are referred to New Start by representatives from 72 other nonprofit organizations, including the American Red Cross, the Emergency Housing Consortium and the Shelter Network. "The agencies know their [clients'] situations," says New Start office manager Carmen Mejia. Clients create a wish list that is submitted to the warehouse prior to their furniture-selection appointment. After paying a $25 warehouse-access fee, the clients are free to choose any available item on their lists from New Start's 8,500-square-foot Menlo Park warehouse. "It's like Christmas," says Vivian Harris, a case manager for the Homeless Prenatal Program. "Finally, people get a place to live." Now in its third year of operation, the New Start Furniture Fund has already furnished more than 550 homes, and looks to furnish 600 more this year. Individuals, hotels and apartment complexes donate all the furniture, ranging from solid oak dressers to white leather couches to TVs, dining tables and loveseats.
Beds donated by individuals and hotels find their way to a warehouse run by Phil and Deborah VanPoetsch's non-profit New Start Furniture--funded by Cupertino's Sobrato Family Foundation--and later to the homes of local families. "Right from day one, we've never had any problems getting furniture," VanPoetsch says. "The support of the public has been immense." The organization finances its operations through private donations and revenues from the warehouse-access fee. In addition, New Start recently received a $10,000 grant from Cupertino's Sobrato Family Foundation, and will be looking to finance more of its expanding operations and client base with grants and foundation money. "We needed an additional push in order to obtain our objectives, so we used the money given to us to add a fourth staff member and will be purchasing an additional truck to help with the pickups. This will help us provide faster service in the future," VanPoetsch says. In the summer of 1995, the VanPoetschs donated a bedroom set to East Palo Alto charity, Families in Transition. The recipients of their donation, a family of 13, owned only four beds to accommodate their 11 children. "I took it upon myself to help this family, because I was so proud of them," VanPoetsch says. "I called around to see if I could solve their problem, but I couldn't find an agency to help them." After searching some more, VanPoetsch found that the nearest agency providing the service he needed was based across the continent in New York. Frustrated but inspired, VanPoetsch toyed with the notion of setting up a warehouse that would allow needy individuals to come and select their own furniture. The New Start Furniture Fund was incorporated a few months later, in October 1995. "It's just absolutely amazing to me the way it has been run from the start. Both of our hearts and souls are in it," Deborah VanPoetsch says. "There must be some help from above or something, because whenever there's a hitch, everything works out." Support for the organization has been immense, both on the community and government level. "There are so many people that want to see it work that everybody just works together on it," Deborah says. "Everybody feels great about it, so it's a real win-win." At a special awards banquet held for San Mateo County organizations, the NSFF was awarded four prestigious awards, including a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition and a California Award. "I was the only one up and down four times," VanPoestch says with the sparkle of pride in his eyes. "I just couldn't believe it." Representatives from the NSFF's affiliated agencies say they can believe it. "My clients are very pleased with what they received from New Start and how they were treated," says Bob Dolci, head of the Emergency Housing Consortium. "It's wonderful," agrees Harris. "It really gives people a new chance. They get wonderful quality stuff, and the organization makes it very easy and non-bureaucratic." In the lives of people helped by the NSFF, the significance of the addition of beds, dressers and tables to their homes goes far beyond improvement in their interior decorating schemes. "Some of the stories of the people who go through the warehouse are just heartbreaking," Phil VanPoetsch says. "One woman, after repeatedly leaving her abusive husband, used to return to him each time in order to prevent her children from having to sleep on the floor. After picking her furniture up from the warehouse, she hasn't been back since." Karen Ziegler, a Livermore resident and current New Start client, says the organization's services have provided a great help in aiding her transition from an uncertain and erratic homeless lifestyle to that of a stable homeowner. 
"I was a workaholic,"explains Ziegler. "I got burned out, and in recovering, I couldn't work, so I became homeless."
The agency that referred Ziegler, Allied Housing, found her an apartment, but could not supply her with furniture. As a single mother of two and a newly enrolled student, Ziegler found it nearly impossible to search for furniture and attend classes at the same time.
"It's very grueling on one's physical and mental well-being, having to sleep on the floor," she says. "That's why it's a great idea to provide furniture to people in my situation. When you have furniture, you feel like you have more of your own home."
The VanPoetsches, who work as estate managers during the week, lead active and involved lives outside of their involvement with New Start. As the parents of an 8-year-old daughter, Emily, and a set of 6-year-old twin boys, Giles and Luke, their lives are split between work, PTA activities, soccer games and the everyday responsibilities of family life.
"It's a lot of balls to juggle at the same time, but we haven't dropped one yet, so we're doing pretty well," Phil VanPoetsch says, laughing.
Nevertheless, the New Start Furniture Fund continues to thrive under their direction, and hopes for the organization's expansion beyond the boundaries of the peninsula remains highly plausible.
"Just to see it happen all over would be wonderful. We'd be really happy to provide anyone with the administrative tools that we've found useful just to help them get started," Deborah VanPoetsch says.
"This is probably my life's work," Phil VanPoetsch agrees, "and I will not rest until every major metropolis has an organization of this type."
Anyone interested in helping is asked to call the NSFF warehouse at 650.322.9716. This article was originally published in the December 1, 1999 issue of the Cupertino Courier. Copyright © Metro Publishing Inc. Maintained by Boulevards New Media. cupertino.com home |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2008 Boulevards New Media > Contact Us | |||||||
