Welcome to the St John Vianney Furniture Bank!

The St. John Vianney Furniture Bank is currently open by appointment only on Thursday and Saturday mornings. If you are in need of furniture and/or household goods or would like to donate furniture and/or household goods, please fill out the form to the right.

Please do not drop-off donations when the warehouse is not open.

Thank you for utilizing our ministry! Stay safe and healthy!

Turning an Empty House into a Home!

The St. John Vianney Furniture Bank serves families who are low income, unemployed, previously homeless, single parents, and refugees/immigrants. Referrals from United Way (211), social service agencies and local churches in Lake County are preferred for those wishing to receive furniture and appliances. Appointments for furniture can be made by calling our answering service at 440.255.3051.  When you call in, please speak slowly and clearly and leave your name and phone number and someone from our organization will call you back to schedule an appointment. Please note that the phone line is an answering machine only and is NOT manned by volunteers.  If you do not receive a return phone call within 3 days, please call back as sometimes your original message may be faint or hard to transcribe so we may not be able to hear your phone number to call you back.

PLEASE NOTE: For the safety of our volunteers and those utilizing our ministry, the following procedures are in effect immediately and will be strictly enforced:

  1. We prefer that all people entering the warehouse wear masks.  Hand sanitizer will be provided but masks will not!
  2. The client must bring a photo ID with them.  Only one client/family will be allowed on the showroom floor at any given time.
  3. Adequate transportation to haul their selected furniture home. A list of truck rental locations are available on request.  PLEASE NOTE:  If you are renting a truck to pick up your furniture, it is strongly suggested that you reserve the truck at least one day BEFORE your scheduled appointment.  It is especially difficult to reserve trucks on Saturdays if you are calling that morning.
  4. Please clean out your vehicle BEFORE coming to the furniture bank (i.e. trunks, back seats, truck beds, etc.) so that the furniture can be appropriately and safely placed in your vehicle! We have many scheduled appointments on any given day and it is unfair for others to wait while your vehicle is being cleaned out. We reserve the right to have individuals move their vehicle to the parking lot to clean it out and move other appointments ahead for these situations.
  5. Bring tie downs, bungee straps, rope, etc. to secure your furniture to your vehicle. In addition, for inclement weather conditions, please provide tarps, plastic, etc. to cover your load. The furniture bank is NOT required to supply any of these types of items to secure/protect the load.

Typical furniture available on most days (items may vary depending on previous donations):

  • Mattresses / box springs / bed frames (limit one per family)
  • Dressers / chests (limit one per family)
  • Kitchen or Dining Room tables and chairs
  • Couches, Love Seats, Living Room chairs
  • End Tables and Lamps
  • Appliances
  • Household and Kitchen Items

Families are allowed 3 appointments in a 2 year period to get the furniture needed.

Beds for Kids

One of the greatest concerns is for children who are sleeping on something other than a suitable bed.  In an effort to remedy this situation we started a special program in 2017 to provide “Beds for Kids”.

The St. John Vianney Furniture Bank provides special beds for younger children ages 2-9, up to about 90 lbs. This is a NEW bed and consists of a metal bed frame with a 6″ futon style mattress. Each of these special beds cost us $56 and are currently provided to the client for $25.  We are working to raise adequate funds so that these beds could be provided at no cost. YOUR donation will help us achieve this goal.

Residential/Commercial Pickup

If you are interested in donating furniture from your home/business in Lake County, please call 440.255.3051 or fill out the form on this webpage.

Please note, the phone number above is an answering machine and is not a manned phone line. Please leave a message including your name, phone number, address and the items you wish to donate. The phone messages are retrieved by volunteers and return calls are made, usually within 2 days, to the person donating to schedule an appointment for pickup. If you do not receive a return call from a volunteer within 3 days, please call back because sometimes messages are faint or unclear and we may not be able to retrieve your phone number to call you back. Thank you!

Donation Drop-Offs

If you wish to drop-off items for donation, you may do so at our warehouse at 8805 East Ave in Mentor ONLY on any Thursday morning from 8 am to 10 am or Saturday morning from 8 am to 11 am. Please only drop-off on those days and times. Drop-offs on other days may be damaged by weather and/or stolen.

Safety Procedures

For the safety of our ministry volunteers, we are no longer entering residences and/or businesses. As a result, any items to be picked up by our volunteers must be placed in either a garage, a covered porch or, weather permitting, in the driveway. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but this decision has been made in the best interests and safety of our volunteers in order to minimize the risk of them injuring themselves moving furniture through houses. We trust you understand the reasoning for this decision, and we hope you still support our ministry.

Our ministry is entirely operated by volunteers – there are no paid employees. However, the ministry does have expenses such as rent and utilities for the warehouse where the furniture is stored and fuel and maintenance expenses for our box truck that is used to pick up the furniture. As a result, on our pickups, we ask, if at all possible, for a nominal monetary donation to help defray these expenses for us. We greatly appreciate whatever donation you can provide.

What items do you accept?

  • Bedroom – Mattresses, box springs (must be clean with no tears/rips, no stains and, of course, no bed bugs), dressers, chests, nightstands, bed frames
  • Living Room – Sofas, loveseats, living room chairs, recliners, end/coffee tables, lamps. Upholstered items must be free of tears/rips, stains and must functional.
  • Dining Room/Kitchen – Dining room/kitchen tables and chairs. Buffets and china cabinets are no longer accepted.
  • Appliances – (newer than 15 years in working condition) Refrigerators, stoves, washers and dryers. Appliances must be cleaned prior to donating.
  • Smaller Desks (student/home), 2 drawer filing cabinets, desk chairs. Larger office desks are not accepted.
  • Bookcases, shelving units, pictures
  • Flat screen TV’s are accepted and TV stands. Tube TV’s, Projection TV’s and Console TV’s are not accepted.
  • VCR, DVD players, and other electronics
  • Dishes, silverware, pots and pans, glassware, cups, kitchenware
  • Sheets, blankets, comforters, towels, linens (must be clean and folded)
  • Small appliances, microwaves, toasters, coffee makers
  • Newer FIXED side cribs that meet government standards

Items Not Accepted

  • Worn furniture with rips, tears, stains, or visible pet hair
  • Buffets and china cabinets
  • Large entertainment centers
  • Pianos, organs, musical instruments
  • Exercise equipment
  • Waterbeds, platform beds or frames
  • Office desks, credenzas, 4 drawer filing cabinets
  • Tube, Console and Projection TV’s
  • Sewing machines
  • Holiday decorations
  • Drop-side cribs
  • Dishwashers or other built-in appliances
  • Kitchen/bathroom cabinets
  • Ceiling lighting fixtures or fans
  • Yard equipment
  • Clothes
  • Books

Furniture Condition

  • Gently used, ready to use, no repairs needed. No rips, tears, stains, or tape patches
  • No pet hair, bed bugs, fleas, cockroaches, evidence of mice or other rodents or exposure to other health risks, etc.
  • Appliances must be in working condition, complete with all parts/accessories and must be clean
  • All furniture and baby items must be safe. We do not accept recalled or damaged items.
  • We reserve the right to refuse any items deemed unsuitable for our clients. We also may decline items from time to time due to quantities currently in stock.

If you are interested in donating money to support the furniture bank and/or the “Beds for Kids”:

MAIL A CHECK:
St. John Vianney Church
Attn: Furniture Bank

7575 Bellflower Rd

Mentor, OH 44060

The St. John Vianney Furniture Bank relies on 100% volunteer support to help serve families in need in our community. Please contact the Furniture Bank at 440.255.3051 to offer your time.

About Us

Our History

The St. Vincent DePaul Society (SVDP) offers person to person service to the needy and suffering and is inspired by Gospel values. The St. John Vianney Furniture Bank is a special program of SVDP providing needy families throughout Lake County with gently used furniture, household items and appliances at no cost.

Operation

The St. John Vianney Furniture Bank is an all-volunteer organization. We accept donated “gently used” furniture, household items and appliances from the general population in Lake County. We house the furniture in a warehouse in Mentor and then distribute to low income/needy families who reside in Lake County. We accept all clients regardless of race, religion or ethnicity and strive to serve them to the best of our ability with the resources available.

History

The St. Vincent DePaul Society at St. John Vianney Church has operated a furniture ministry for many years. After the heavy flooding in Lake County in August of 2006, United Way asked three churches, which operated small furniture banks, to join together and pool resources to help those families devastated by the floods in Lake County. St. Noel Catholic Church in Willoughby Hills, Hope Ridge United Methodist Church in Concord, and St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Mentor came together to aid in this effort. After that project was completed the three churches decided that we could better serve the community if we continued to work together. We then rented a small business unit (1,100 sq. ft.) and began the Lake-Geauga Furniture Bank. St Noel’s had a 15’ box truck, so it made collecting furniture much easier and efficient. We continued in this mode for almost five years and the space was so small all the sofas were stacked on end and it was almost impossible for our clients to pick out what they needed. Over the course of these five years St. Noel’s had to drop out, then Hope Ridge did the same, and this left the volunteers from St. John Vianney running the operation. In 2011, the Furniture Bank moved into a 3,600 square feet warehouse on East Avenue in Mentor and this has now been expanded to 6,000 square feet. In 2014, the Furniture Bank became an agency of United Way of Lake County. We have grown from serving about 400 families a year with furniture to now we serve over 1,000 families each year and we continue to grow. Since the Furniture Bank is operated strictly by volunteers of St. John Vianney Church and funded, in part, by the Church, it was decided to change the name of the organization to The St. John Vianney Furniture Bank. The Furniture Bank continues to serve all of Lake County.