Helping Hands Furniture Ministry moves locations to downtown Waverly

WAVERLY, N.Y. ( WETM ) — Ribbons were cut on Tuesday as the Helping Hands Furniture Ministry turned a new page at a new location in downtown Waverly after months of planning and moving.

Christian Life Church in Waverly was alive and well on Tuesday, Oct. 1, marking the opening for The Bridge of Penn-York Valley Churches’ new Helping Hands Funiture Ministry location. The furniture ministry allows people in need to apply for vouchers that can be used on items such as beds, couches, tables, and other vital household items.

Helping Hands Furniture Ministry moved after finding out in June that the former location at 515 Chemung St was under contract and sold, so after ten years, the organization had to move.

The new location at Christian Life Church can be found at 207 Broad St in Waverly, with the Helping Hands entrance on the Loder Street side. The building became a church in 1972 after being converted from a theater built in the 1920s.

The decision to move operations into the Christian Life Church was seen as a natural progression, as said by Kim Paul, the president and active helping hands coordinator of the bridge.

“The pastor that had been here before was very supportive of The Bridge and in 2021 allowed us to use this space for overflow, plus some of the rooms along Broad Street,” Paul said. “So, that has really helped the ministry to be able to do our elder care ministry, our medical equipment ministry, and also have some office space over on the Broad Street area,” she said, “So this was overflow space, so this just kinda was the natural progression when we lost the building at Quinlans,” Paul said.

The space was filled on Tuesday with various types of couches and recliners, kitchen and dining room tables, cabinets and dishware, mattresses, and many more items needed to complete a home.

All items are donated, with Paul saying they rely heavily on the community’s generosity which has helped them with other ministries such as the clothes ministry and the food pantry.

If anyone needs furniture or other forms of assistance through The Bridge, they can call the clearinghouse number at 570-888-8826. From there the person can say they need furniture and will then be put through to a voucher writer at one of the 24 member churches.

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