Cleveland Furniture Bank for the needy is a well-kept secret

Betty Czika, standing at the back of the room and fighting a wicked cold on this particular morning, is acutely aware of the somewhat slim pickings -- and she knows that there is no shortage of customers.

Czika is program administrator at the Furniture Bank, a nonprofit started in 2006 that provides donated furniture to people recovering from traumatic life situations or acute financial problems. The Furniture Bank store is only open to clients who have been referred by about 200 participating social agencies.

Last year, some 3,000 people were able to leave the Furniture Bank, in a strip mall in Old Brooklyn, with a couch or loveseat, armchair, dresser, kitchen table and chairs, and mattress and box spring, for minimal -- and sometimes zero -- cost.

That is the maximum amount of furniture allowed per person; it's stressed that the furnishings are for people who have nothing it is not intended to replace furniture already owned.

There is another rule: Clients are only allowed one visit to the showroom, although they are welcome to walk around and specifically pick what they want from each grouping. It is, after all, meant to be a positive experience that maintains the person's dignity and sense of self-worth.

The one-visit rule is why showroom traffic is spottier. People are waiting to schedule appointments until more donations arrive and they can leave with everything they need, said Czika.

Up until recently, said director Mary Beth Paris, the showroom was filled to capacity with couches, chairs, bedroom sets and dinette table and chairs. Donations came from individuals, hotels, motels, businesses, sometimes even home-furnishing retailers.

Applications have gone up, donations down," she said.

The situation is unfortunate, Paris said, because furniture "is a necessary thing for families to feel whole again."

The Cleveland Furniture Bank is in a space previously occupied by the St. Vincent de Paul resale store and furniture donation center. In fact, the adjoining space to the Furniture Bank is still a large resale store (the old St. Vincent de Paul sign is there but due to be removed at any moment).

The resale store, which is brimming with donations (although bedroom sets are rare), is a main revenue source for the furniture bank, funding operational costs that include five trucks and drivers who both move donations to the storefront and help deliver furniture selected by clients, said Paris.

To get maximum funding for the furniture bank, some of the donated furniture is siphoned directly to the resale store, in a delicate balancing act of needs, she said. About two-thirds of all donated furniture goes to the furniture bank; the remainder goes to the resale shop.

At the furniture bank, clients or the referring social service agency pay a flat $65 for the furniture, with delivery as an option for an additional $65 (outside) or $90 (inside, no stairs) fee. Clients, not the agency, generally pay the moving fee.

Free bus passes to come to the showroom are available for eligible clients, too.

"We strongly recommend that people get a few of their friends to carry the furniture inside," said Paris. "Or they can just get a friend with a truck."

She also advised that people do research before hiring movers, because most times the furniture bank can do it more economically.

"We are the best-kept secret in Cleveland," said Czika.

"We just hope donations increase," Paris said.