HWF Temporarily Reduces Operations Due to Covid-19
2020-03-15
WE ARE STILL ACCEPTING DONATIONS DURING THE COVID-19 CLOSURE You are welcome to drop off your donations at our warehouse, 5350 Canotek Rd, unit 9 in Ottawa on Wednesday evenings between 6 and 9 pm, or Saturdays between 10:00 am and 1pm. Please note that we do not accept clothing or items in poor condition.
Due to increasing concerns over COVID-19, Ottawa charity Helping With Furniture (HWF) has decided to stop most operations, including furniture deliveries to families in need, for at least the next few weeks.
“This has been a very difficult decision to make,” says Co-Founder and President of HWF Nathalie Maione. “But together with our various team leaders and Board members we have decided that – to keep our clients and volunteers safe – we must scale back operations.”
HWF provides gently-used furniture and household goods to families and individuals in distress. One of the unique features of the organisation is the time, contact and diligence volunteers take in setting up a client’s home. Items such as furniture, mattresses, linens, toys, dishes, tools and bikes are taken directly into the homes of HWF clients and completely set-up by volunteers.
“Our move-in team often spends an hour or more in a client’s home. There is very direct contact, which is why we are concerned,” says Maione. “We deal with some very vulnerable members of the public – the elderly, cancer patients, immune-compromised individuals – our top priority is to not put anyone's health at risk.”
During the closure, the organisation will periodically open to accept furniture donations from the public on set-days. Only a limited number of volunteers will be present to receive donations, and all surfaces will be thoroughly disinfected. Helping With Bikes will continue their work fixing used bikes, but will also not be delivering until operations resume.
Deliveries that were already booked – into April – will be postposed. The organisation currently has a list of over 260 families and individuals who are waiting for deliveries.
“In our 15 years of operations, we have never had to stop deliveries for any length of time,” adds Maione. “It is really heartbreaking, because we have many families scheduled and waiting to receive their new furnishings, but considering the current situation, this is what we need to do. As the situation changes and evolves we’ll be revisiting this in order to get the deliveries up and running again as soon as possible.”
The award-winning charity also announced last week it will postpone its Annual Gala from April 24th to September 25th over COVID-19 concerns.
For questions or to book interviews with Nathalie Maione, please call 613-612-6228 or email nmaione@hwfottawa.org