The Final State of the Union
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Summary:
A small nonprofit in New Jersey serves as a reminder of how community organizations are bringing hope to people who need it most.
In my role within the White House, I have the amazing opportunity to meet with community organizations that are bringing hope to people who need it most.
In the first few weeks of serving as the Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, I met one such group called Interfaith Furnishings. It is a small, non-profit organization that provides furniture to needy families in the greater Morris County area of New Jersey. The organization was founded just over five years ago to help families cope with the lack of financial assistance for essential furniture such as couches, chairs, and tables. It does all this work as a donation-based program that operates with the assistance of over 20 social service organizations, and 11 local house of worship – from different religious backgrounds - that provide volunteer workers to pick-up and deliver furniture to the clients. The program started as a collaborative project with Homeless Solutions, an organization that helps provide shelter for the homeless and affordable housing. Since then, Interfaith Furnishings has experienced significant growth. They’ve helped over 300 disadvantaged families in their area.
In the year since this meeting, the Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships has been working with our 12 Centers distributed throughout the federal government to support and strengthen the work of faith-based and neighborhood organizations like Interfaith Furnishings. We continue to provide resources and bring training opportunities to smaller nonprofit organization, both faith-based and secular, across the country. Through the work of the White House Office, I continue to remember the amazing work of groups like Interfaith Furnishings and seek to identify ways we can continue to support and encourage the grassroots passion the exemplify.
As we move forward to implement the President’s vision for faith-based and neighborhood partnerships, I keep small groups making a major impact in their communities like interfaith furnishings in mind as we seek to pair the resources, expertise and information from the federal government with the passion and action that ever-present in our neighborhoods.
Joshua DuBois serves as Special Assistant to the President and Executive Director of The White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
