StoreHouse: Making an impact on Bethany Families

Love Sac

One of our domestic foster care families has a child with special needs. He is a nonverbal quadriplegic that suffers from scoliosis. The child’s relative caregiver does not bring his wheelchair when they come to the agency, as her vehicle does not have the ability to transport it, so his parents must hold him the whole visit. The child is VERY heavy, and it is extremely difficult for his parents to hold him during their visit AND try to engage with their other children. We were generously gifted with a LoveSac for the child to sit in comfortably, so he, his parents, and his siblings are all able to enjoy their time together!

Diapers

Diapers seem to be our “go to” item at the Storehouse. We love the variety of sizes that are offered. Government benefits (ie. Michigan Bridge Card) can't be used for diapers, which get grouped with pet food, cigarettes, and alcohol. We are thankful to have diapers on hand to give out when necessary. These boys below are potty training and love the pull ups we brought over.

Towels/blankets/pillows

Our children in foster care often bounce from placement to placement, without a place that is truly THEIRS. Beds, or a lack thereof, are a major factor in children being moved from a placement, and can be a contributing factor in a child being removed from their original home in the first place. When we find bedding at the warehouse, it goes directly to filling those needs so we can keep children comfortable!

Rice Cookers/Instapots

We love giving these away to both domestic and refugee families. Refugee families prefer rice cookers in their home upon arrival to the US, we are not able to supply a rice cooker in each home. Finding them at the warehouse is always a joy, because we are able to fill a need that we would not be able to do on our own. The domestic families love them for easy preparation of home-cooked meals!

Electronics

Many of the gadgets we find at the storehouse go to our independent living homes for refugee boys and girls. They love all the different things we are able to bring over to them. Chargers for their cellphones, new calculators to help them with their homework, alarm clocks-anything makes a difference!

Christmas gifts

In the next couple months we will update you on our Sponsor a Family for Christmas Program where we give every family we serve with gifts to put under their tree! We’ve already collected a few coolers and outdoor décor!

Refugee Resettlement

Searching for donations can be a tough task, especially with the number of refugees we have been receiving. The constant needs can be overwhelming for members of the community to handle alone. In the Storehouse, we can find items in bulk to satisfy very specific client needs. For instance, when we get clients with very young children, we need new diapers for them to use. Our clients often have multiple children in diapers at a time and that can get very expensive.

The Storehouse allows us to get boxes of diapers in multiple sizes, helping reduce the already high costs for newly resettled refugee clients looking to get acclimated to the United States.

Acclimation can take time and new experiences are common for newly resettled refugee families. Another issue we had as an organization was finding lawnmowers for some of the larger yards. Lawn mowers can be expensive but the fees that come with overgrown grass can also be inhibiting for new families. These families often don’t understand why they are getting charged and how to rectify the issue. Luckily, the Storehouse gave us the opportunity to buy lawn mowers at a significantly lower price, providing families with the tools they need to avoid future charges. One of our families was so excited to see how easy it was to cut their grass with their new, electric lawn mower. As an older couple with younger kids, the electric lawnmower was a blessing for the family.

Overall, the various home care items, kitchen appliances, utensils, glasses, furniture and other donations have been a blessing for refugee families throughout Grand Rapids. Without the bulk items and opportunities the Storehouse provides, we would have a much more difficult time providing the necessary items for clients.