Behind every non-profit organization are people that believe that they can make a difference.
Creating Community
The founders of the San Diego Furniture Bank are Stacy and Jennifer Duty of Escondido California. After seeing the hurting and the helpless while serving as the General Manager of the Elizabeth Hospice Thrift Store in 2003 the Duty’s saw the power of the thrift store and its ability to meet the needs of those suffering from loss and in need of community.
As a family of ministers with a heart for the working poor the Duty’s set out to create a legacy of HOPE by opening the Hope for the Children Foundation in January 2004. The Foundation was set up to raise funds to feed the starving children of Zimbabwe and meet the immediate needs of the working poor in Escondido.
The Hope Family Center as it was now known expanded its thrift store operations from 2,400 sq. ft. in 2004 to 15,000 sq. ft. in 2005 while starting a weekly food program that served over 150 families each week in Escondido.
When Hurricane Katrina hit the Duty’s felt the greater call to go and help. Shutting down the thrift store in late 2005 and serving the broken families of New Orleans was one of the greatest challenges of our lives.
In 2007 the San Diego Furniture Bank was born out of a desperate need to help the families affected by the largest wild fires to ever hit the San Diego region. Hundreds of homes destroyed and thousands of families displaced created the need for a furniture bank. The furniture bank partnered with Jerome’s Furniture and the National Furniture Bank Associate to meet the needs of fire survivors.
After meeting the immediate needs the furniture bank has transitioned into a thrift store that now supports the Elizabeth Hospice Foundation and the working poor of Escondido.
