Mitten’s Home Appliance donated an extensive amount of furniture to outfit the bedrooms, living rooms, and dining rooms of the renovated shelter. “Our family-owned business will be celebrating our 80th anniversary this fall. We have been blessed by having great community support for so many years, it was another way to give back to our community,” said C.W Mitten. “Being the 4th generation, I find it very important to try to do as much as we can within our budget.”
PDC has provided a variety of advocacy and support services for victims since 1977 but has not had a shelter program available. In March, the PDC purchased the land value of the former Frederic Ozanam Transitional Shelter, which closed its doors in December. The space will allow the organization to expand its services by providing short-term shelter to assist victims of domestic violence.
“All in all, we were able to bring together three double rooms (large bedroom and living room with sleeper) two suites (large bedroom, double bunk room, and living room with sleeper) and three single rooms (bunks and a sleeper), enough to potentially sleep 37 residents,” he said. “I was also able to work two beautiful dining room sets and outfit a separate TV/meeting room into our team’s budget.”
The project began when a customer, Rodney Feltz, approached Mitten with the idea of contributing furniture to the project. “He had a number in mind of what he wanted to do, and I thought there was an excellent opportunity for both of us to do more. So with his kind donation, instead of doing half of what he wanted to do, we will be outfitting most of the organization,” said Mitten.
Mitten’s goal was to provide high-quality furniture that would both work well and look fantastic, and began reaching out to vendors to coordinate a design that would flow from room to room. Timing was a challenge since normally the furniture takes awhile to be manufactured and shipped, but vendors assured him that they would work extra hard to meet the deadline for a great cause.
“There were many people involved that helped bring this all together and we are truly blessed to be a part of a project that can touch so many people’s lives,” said Mitten. “I look forward to the moving day. My kids (11 and 8) will be helping with the move because it is important to me to show them that volunteering and giving back is essential.”
