Brooklyn nonprofit is helping asylum seekers furnish their homes
NEW YORK -- Furniture and household items like bedding and silverware overflow from multiple storage units. In a narrow self-storage hallway in Gowanus, volunteers pack boxes.
"I wanted to do something for refugees. You know, I feel like my grandparents were essentially refugees," said volunteer Kayla Schwarz.
This is the work of Ruth's Refuge, an organization which collects donations of home goods to help furnish new apartments for asylum seekers.
"Most people have had to leave behind lots of belongings, many things that were extremely important to them and that a lot of us take for granted. And they come here and they have to start over," said Leah Cover, the organization's founder and executive director.
It claims to be the only organization in the city that does this kind of work. It operates as an entirely choice-based model; clients work with a personal shopper to find the right items, except everything is free.
"Being able to put things away, being able to feel the ownership ... I think all of that starts to help people feel comfortable and at home," program manager Margo Galpin said.
Clients are able to choose from a website full of things they would need for their home. Once that list is created, it's assembled by a team of volunteers, and delivered straight to the home.
"We accept clients that are sponsored by various agencies, that could be HIAS, Catholic Charities, or QDEP," said Kathy Fennelly, a volunteer and retired professor of public policy. "The agency often finds them a place to live, but it's often unfurnished and the clients often spend a long time living in shelters before they can move in."
Del Carmen Arraiz, an asylum seeker from Venezuela, recently got a delivery to her apartment in the Bronx.
In an interview translated from Spanish, she told CBS New York, "Now ... I have a place to to cook, I have a place to sleep. And in the terrible heat of the New York summer, I have air conditioning. The way this has made me feel is priceless."
The idea came in 2016 when volunteers at a local synagogue became involved in helping recent refugees. In 2019, the organization became a nonprofit, named after the biblical Book of Ruth.
"Ruth is the story of the ultimate stranger being welcomed into the community," Cover said.
Last year, leaders say they furnished more than 100 apartments citywide, and hundreds more since the organization was founded.
Ruth's Refuge is always looking for new or slightly used household essentuals. You can get more information here.
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