"Welcome Home" in Newton helps women and children find dignity with household items
NEWTON - A non-profit organization in Newton is helping women and children find basic household items.
"Sometimes just walking through here and looking through that doorway, brings them to tears," said Mindy Peckler, co-founder of Welcome Home.
Who finds help at Welcome Home?
Welcome Home is a home goods pantry that helps women leaving domestic violence situations, people moving into permanent housing from shelters, immigrants, and anyone else in need transform their housing into homes.
"A lot of our clients don't have a lot of choice in their lives. So this is a place we can give them choice," Peckler said.
Welcome Home takes pride in treating everyone with dignity. That includes clients and the organization's network of 121 volunteers.
"To be able to come here and pick something that is beautiful and attractive to them that they want to live with, not something that's been picked for them, there's a lot of dignity in that," said Julie Plaut Mahoney, co-founder of Welcome Home.
What items are donated
All items are gently used and inspected thoroughly by volunteers.
The organization gets donated housewares and small appliances from people who are often downsizing or cleaning out their homes.
"Our items are gently used, we are very careful about what we take because we want to treat our clients with true dignity," Peckler said.
Clients pick up pre-ordered items like bedding and appliances and then get to pick five items from the showroom.
Why blenders are in demand
The most commonly requested item is a blender.
"The appliance is small enough and portable enough that if you have to flee your living situation, you can take it with you," Peckler said.
"It's very important to us that we are impacting so many people in helping people create new homes," Plaut Mahoney said.
For more information, visit the Welcome Home website.
