In 2024, ALIRP launched the Furniture Donation Drive, a direct support program designed to engage community partners and volunteers while meeting a critical need for refugees and people seeking asylum. ​When individuals and families arrive in the United States, they often have little more than the clothes they are wearing. While securing housing is a major hurdle, furnishing that space—and turning it into a livable home—can be even more challenging. In response, ALIRP began coordinating furniture donations to help our Partners establish safe, dignified homes. Using a truck generously provided by Canterbury United Methodist Church, ALIRP delivers essential household items through same-day pickup and delivery. Donations have included full- and queen-size beds with frames and mattresses, dressers, tables and chairs, and household appliances such as washers and dryers—items that allow families to move from survival to stability.

Program Outcomes

2024: The Year of the Bed
In 2024, more than 30 beds were donated. Thanks to the generosity of our community, ALIRP was proud to share that every Partner had a bed to sleep on for the first time in our organization’s history.
​2025: Making a Home Cozy
In 2025, donations expanded to include bookcases, sofas, loveseats, and chairs -- helping Partners create spaces that feel comfortable, welcoming, safe, and their own. ​
Using valuation guidelines from the Salvation Army and Goodwill, the estimated total value of donated items was:
  • $3,524 in FY 2024
  • $2,378 in FY 2025

Partners giving back

The Furniture Donation Drive has also come full circle. One Partner family that received furniture during the first drive in 2024 later became donors themselves. After gaining work authorization, earning income, and purchasing furniture of their own choosing, they donated items back to ALIRP so another family could benefit, demonstrating the power of dignity, self-sufficiency, and community reciprocity.

Our Donors and Funders

The success of the Furniture Donation Drive is made possible through the generosity of individual donors, community partners, and institutional supporters. Their contributions, both financial and in-kind, allow ALIRP to coordinate transportation, logistics, and volunteer engagement, ensuring that essential items reach families quickly and efficiently.  We are deeply grateful to our supporters, including:
  • Canterbury United Methodist Church (in-kind transportation support)
  • Southminster Presbyterian Church (go-to volunteers with loading and delivery)
  • Southminster Presbyterian Church Outreach Foundation and the Baptist Church of the Covenant Foundation for funds to purchase washers and dryers for ALIRP Partner Families. 
  • More than 50 individuals who donated their furniture, small appliances, and household goods to ALIRP. 

​Together, our donors and funders help transform empty spaces into homes.
​The photos below, taken between 2024 and 2025, highlight moments from the ALIRP Furniture Donation Drives and feature our Executive Director, Matt Buttler, alongside dedicated volunteers. Volunteers support this effort by donating furniture, assisting with loading the truck, and delivering items directly to families. We are deeply grateful to the generous supporters and volunteers across the Birmingham community whose time, resources, and care make the ALIRP Furniture Donation Drives possible.
If you would like more information about the Furniture Donation Drive, please email [email protected].