Decluttering your home has taken a hold on our society, with Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying up and Margareta Magnusson’s The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning sweeping in and becoming bestsellers in recent years. Perhaps the hardest part of downsizing is figuring out where to donate your belongings that still have life in them. There’s a local nonprofit with a solution to that, right in Anne Arundel County: HOPE For All.
Through community donations, HOPE For All is a clearinghouse for useful things to give to people who are coming out of homelessness or without the means to meet their basic needs. They store everything needed to turn a house into a home—sheets and comforters, toasters and flatware, dressers and sofas, etc., along with clothing—and serve more than 2,000 people each year who live in the area. Providing for people’s basic needs is the mission of the Christian-based nonprofit, which has given furniture, housewares, and clothing to more than 23,000 people since 2004.
Angela is one of HOPE For All’s clients.
“We have 70 government, nonprofit, and church partners around Anne Arundel County that refer clients to us,” said Executive Director Connie Cooper. “They are working directly with people who are struggling. We try and bring stability to their lives, and give them hope for their future,” she said.
The nonprofit also accepts much of the non-essential “stuff” people collect, and sells it in their twice-monthly yard sales. From toys to craft supplies, jewelry to seasonal decorations, purses to pet items, HOPE’s yard sale is a popular destination for treasure hunters. Every dollar earned from the yard sale helps the nonprofit help others.
Angela is one of HOPE For All’s clients. After an abusive marriage and divorce, Angela lost custody of her teenage son until she was able to get housing, but she still needed a place for him to sleep. She had begun an unpaid internship at a local treatment center that would lead to employment, but didn’t have the resources to purchase all of the things she needed to begin again.
“All I was able to buy was a couple of plates for 50 cents each,” she said.
She turned to her church, Abundant Life in Glen Burnie, a longtime partner of HOPE, and they referred her to the nonprofit for assistance. An Intake Team met Angela in her home and went through her “wish list” of the basics that she needed, and then she was placed in the queue, with a mutually agreed upon date determined for her delivery.
Within two weeks, the HOPE truck team delivered a house full of furniture, including new beds and pillows, plus gently used donations given by people in the community—dressers, a kitchen table and chairs, lamps, bedding, curtains, mixing bowls, coffee maker, dishes and glasses, utensils, and much more. These items got a second life in Angela’s home, helping to give her a fresh start. With a bed for her son, they were able to be reunited again in the same home.
“I look forward to the day when I am on the other side of my situation so I can come to the aid of others in their own recovery,” she said.
One year later, Angela attended a fundraiser for HOPE For All, and shared her progress. Her life was stable, she was employed as a counselor, and her son was inspired by her fortitude to pursue a college degree.
“HOPE For All was a beacon of light in my life,” she told the crowd. “Thank you for believing in the power of hope.”
What better feeling is there than to give someone who is at a low point in their lives hope? Your household extras can do just that. When you are ready to declutter or downsize, consider gifting to a local nonprofit that has spent more than two decades helping people in your area. Your donations will help them give hope for all.
Find out what HOPE For All accepts here.
Watch A Journey of Your Donation here.
HOPE For All
122 Roesler Road; Glen Burnie, MD 21060; 410-766-0372
Donations Hours: Tuesday and Wednesday; 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
