Agency
How does a nonprofit agency become a partner?
Are you interested in becoming a partner agency? Please complete this form. At Home Sweet Home we strive to work with an array of partner agencies to ensure our services are available to a diverse population. We may not be able to partner with your organization, but we’d love to hear about the work you’re doing to see if we’d be a good fit for one another!
How do I refer a client?
Home Sweet Home accepts referrals ONLY from case managers at our partner agencies. Those agencies are listed here.
For current non-profit partners: please fill out the form here. Or, use your agency-specific online referral form. If you are unsure which form to use, check with your supervisor.
Donation Pickup Service
Why does Home Sweet Home charge for some donation pickups?
Home Sweet Home started charging a small fee for inside donation pickups in 2018. We still offer free furniture pickups for donations that are left outside (on a porch, on a driveway, etc.). However, following suit with most other furniture banks across the country, we instituted a policy to charge for inside pickup service. Inevitably, we get asked why, as a nonprofit agency, we charge people who are donating furniture to us. In short, we charge a small furniture pickup fee to offset the cost of gas, insurance, and upkeep on our truck and to pay the bills so we can continue to provide donated furniture to marginalized families.
To expand on that answer, unlike other agencies with retail social enterprises that take your used items and sell them to the public to fund their operations, your donated furniture is given directly to the people who need it. The furnishings you no longer need can change the lives of families in our own community within hours of us picking it up from your home. It’s that direct (and that awesome!)
To put it yet another way, furniture pickup fees help Home Sweet Home pay the bills every month and continue to offer donated furniture to families escaping domestic violence, transitioning out of homelessness, living in extreme poverty, and more. Plus, unlike a junk-removal company that would charge you $250 or more to take your unwanted items to the dump, we provide the same furniture removal service but with huge social and environmental impacts!
When you donate furniture and household goods to Home Sweet Home, the pickup fee enables us to:
- Provide furniture and household goods to marginalized members of our community.
- Pay rent and utilities on our warehouse where we:
- Unload donations of gently used furniture.
- House our furniture showroom, in which Home Sweet Home offers clients the dignity of choosing furnishings suited to their personal style and the space restrictions of their new homes.
- Maintain the workshop where we salvage and repair slightly damaged furniture and make them available to families instead of sending them to a landfill.
- Run our modest office, the hub of Home Sweet Home’s operations.
- Maintain, insure, and operate two 16-foot box trucks to pick up donations every morning and deliver to clients every afternoon. That’s a lot of gas!
- Significantly subsidize furniture delivery costs for client families whose deliveries are not covered by their referring agency.
- Actively reduce and reuse your usable, gently used furniture – which means it’s not ending up in landfill.
And, if that’s not reason enough, we also issue charitable tax donation receipts for your furniture donations.
Of course, our pickup service is optional. If you would like to find a new home for your unused furniture and household goods, you can also drop them off at our warehouse in Maplewood at 10 Sunnen Dr. Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Our volunteers will gratefully accept your donation and collect your information for your tax receipt.
Will you pick up non-furniture donations, such as towels, dishes, and other household items?
Our Donation Pickup Service is only available for large furniture items and is limited to Saint Louis City and Saint Louis County in Missouri only.
You are always welcome to deliver accepted items to our warehouse location at 10 Sunnen Dr., Maplewood, MO 63143 between 9am and 2pm Monday-Friday. Please go to the side of the building and someone will be at our loading dock to assist you. Thank you!
ALL ITEMS MUST BE FREE OF STAINS, RIPS, TEARS, HOLES, ODORS OR MAJOR PET HAIR. Please first review the list of items we do and do not accept.
Do you pick up furniture donations in my area?
We offer Donation Pickup Service in St. Louis County and St. Louis City (Missouri only). Please refer to the Zip Code List to see if you live within our service area.
Do you pick up donations on the weekends?
We pick up donations Monday through Friday from 9am to 12pm. We are not open on weekends.
How far in advance should I schedule a pickup?
We recommend that you plan at least 3-4 weeks in advance for a pickup to be scheduled. We do not offer the same day or next day pickups.
Donations
How do I drop off donations?
You are welcome to deliver items to our warehouse location at 10 Sunnen Dr., Maplewood, MO 63143 between 9am and 2pm Monday-Friday. Please go to the side of the building and someone will be at the loading dock to assist you. Thank you!
ALL ITEMS MUST BE FREE OF STAINS, RIPS, TEARS, HOLES, ODORS, AND MAJOR PET HAIR, of appropriate size for a small apartment, and useful for our clients.
Here is a list of Items We Do Not Accept.
Do you take mismatched dishes?
Yes, we can accept them as long as they are in good condition.
What are the items you cannot accept?
We cannot accept items that are broken, dirty, and have stains, rips, tears, holes, odors, or major pet hair. For a list of items we cannot accept, please download the list here: Items We Do Not Accept.
Please note that it is impossible to list every item that we can or cannot accept, but a general rule is that items must be in good working order and they must be useful to our clients. Most of our clients live in small spaces, so extremely large items or heavy and fragile furnishings that will be difficult to move may not be accepted. While we always try to keep as much as possible out of landfills and make use of everything we can, our movers always have the discretion to turn down donations they deem unacceptable due to condition or usability. Any questions should be directed to the Donations Logistics Coordinator at 314-448-9838, extension 1.
To find an organization that will accept items we do not accept, you can visit DonationTown.org.
What items do you accept?
For a list of items we accept, please visit our donate page here or download our brochure here.
Please note that it is impossible to list every item that we can or cannot accept, but a general rule is that items must be in good working order and they must be useful to our clients. Most of our clients live in small spaces, so extremely large items or heavy and fragile furnishings that will be difficult to move may not be accepted. While we always try to keep as much as possible out of landfills and make use of everything we can, our movers always have the discretion to turn down donations they deem unacceptable due to condition or usability. Any questions should be directed to the Donations Logistics Coordinator at 314-448-9838, extension 1.
How do I make a monetary donation?
Thank you! Please visit our Donate page for more details.
I am a business looking to make a furniture donation.
We depend on our corporate partners for their support. If you are a business with items to donate, please complete this form and we will reach out to you as soon as possible.
Get Help from Home Sweet Home
How do I get furniture?
Home Sweet Home does not accept drop-ins. We only serve clients on a referral basis. Referrals must come from case managers at one of our partner agencies. All of those case managers who are able to make referrals to Home Sweet Home have long-term, ongoing relationships with their clients.
If you have a case worker at one of our partner agencies, please contact your case worker and have them submit a referral. See a list of partner agencies here.
Please note: Home Sweet Home does not qualify people for social service agencies or programs. Each agency has different eligibility requirements and offer different services. None of these organizations accept clients solely because they need furniture.
Volunteer
How can I volunteer?
Whether you can commit to one day a week, one weekend a month, or something else we want to hear from you! Some skills we need include movers, painters, carpenters, organizers, designers, and more. Check out our Volunteer Page for more details.
Wish List
Do you have a wish list for clients?
You can see our Urgent Needs Amazon Wishlist here and our General Needs Amazon Wishlist here. Ordering from our Amazon wish list saves you time, directly sends the donation to our warehouse, and has all the essential items that our clients need most.
You can also support Home Sweet Home by using Amazon Smile. Each time you use Amazon Smile to purchase items, Amazon will donate 0.05% of your purchase directly to Home Sweet Home.