The Green Chair Project

The core values of choice and dignity shine through artfully arranged vignettes of furniture along with art and accessories for clients to choose from to find the one that feels like home to them. Hundreds of volunteers help clean, sort, assemble and organize donations and support the work of the 24 member staff who coordinate each referral and personalize items to meet each family’s unique needs. Dishes, cookware, bath baskets, beds, and bedding packs for each family member are included in each home furnishings package and delivered to their home. 

By partnering with case managers from government agencies, shelters, schools, and nonprofits in Wake County and recently, other portions of North Carolina impacted by natural disasters, the shopping experience empowers families to prioritize and choose furnishings that reflect who they are and that help rebuild their lives. In 2022 alone, 1,296 households were furnished, and 97 percent of recipients reported feeling less stressed and more hopeful after receiving furnishings from The Green Chair Project. The average family of four pays $200 for furnishings that include a couch and armchair, dining table and four chairs, dishes, pots and pans, lamps, towels, bedding, and accessories. Hundreds of individuals, businesses, and organizations throughout Wake County help keep the showroom floor and shelves stocked through their donations of goods and money. 

Through its Sweeter Dreams Bed Program, the Green Chair provides new beds to students identified by Wake County Public School System social workers as not having beds of their own. Each $250 donation helps provide a complete bed for a child that includes a new mattress, bed frame, bedding set, and pillow delivered to the child’s home. New cribs are provided for infants that include safe sleep messaging imprinted on the crib and crib sheet. The ultimate goal of the Sweeter Dreams Bed Program is to provide a bed for every child who needs one. Last year, 1,687 beds and cribs were provided to children who previously slept on the floor, sofa, or with others. 

The Green Chair Project prides itself on demonstrating fiscal responsibility, valuing donor support, and holding administrative costs to a minimum (20 percent or less of total spending) so programmatic needs can be met. It has a fiscal year 2022-2023 operating budget of $2.6 million and total assets of $7 million, including revenues generated through private donations, government grants, program fees, and retail sales – a significant sustainable source of income for the program budget. There is an annual signature event, Chairity, which showcases designer vignettes available for public sale, and in 2022, the proceeds were $320,000. The agency’s assets include home furnishings, trucks for furniture pick-up and delivery, and a 30,000 square-foot office, showroom and warehouse building that was recently purchased and beautifully renovated as the result of a successful $3.2 million capital campaign in 2018.