Filling homes and hearts

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This article was published 25/11/2017 (2884 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When she fled an abusive relationship to a women’s shelter three years ago, the mother of three children had to leave behind all of the family’s possessions.

A year later, as they prepared to move into a three-bedroom suite, the family had little more than what they could carry.

Thankfully, they had a referral to Oyate Tipi Cumini Yape.

Oyate Tipi for short, is a non-profit organization that provides free gently used furniture and household items to women and children who have left abusive relationships. In the past two years, it has also helped homeless people referred to them.

“I got all the stuff I needed,” said the woman, who is not being identified.

“We got beds for all of us, mattresses, dresser, a TV stand, two end tables, a table with four chairs and many other things. I got everything I needed there. I’m so thankful to them.”

Oyate Tipi executive director Millie Anderson said the organization stresses the word ‘gently’ in gently used furniture.

“Minor little touch-ups we can fix, but just minor ones. And we stress safety first and quality. We are giving these items to very important people.”

Oyate Tipi’s mission statement explains the organization supports “clients from participating referral agencies to make a new start by providing them with no-cost furniture and household essentials. To facilitate the generosity of Winnipeg residents and organizations by providing pickup services and a central facility for household donations.”

Oyate Tipi, translated from Dakota, means, “where the community lives, sharing and recycling.”

One of Oyate Tipi’s core principles is helping the environment. By recycling furniture, linens and household goods, it assists people in getting back their lives and helps the environment by diverting items from the landfill.

In a sense, the organization’s recycling began with the building it first moved into 14 years ago.

It’s a former Bank of Montreal branch and it was sold to them for $1 by the bank.

The organization stores its furniture there. Shelves and the floor itself are crammed with numerous items, including bed linens, mattresses, glassware, toys, tables and chairs.

“We make a home. It’s not just essentials like a bed and couch. It’s also pictures so they can look at something instead of a bare wall. We have bed linen too, and it is all clean and folded and put together in colours,” she said.

In one area, there are shelves full of board games, stuffed animals and toys.

“I give the child a bag and tell them to go shopping,” Anderson said.

“I always tell them it is shopping. It is important for these children. They’ve also lost everything.”

Anderson said people who accept items from Oyate Tipi can rest easy that they are bedbug-free because they heat-treat all the donated furniture and household items before they put them in their warehouse.

“Everything is heated to 150 degrees for three hours,” she said. “We don’t use chemicals, only heat. Heat is harmless to our clients.

“I believe they’ve been through enough so they shouldn’t have to deal with bedbugs.”

They don’t accept large appliances, such as stoves and fridges, because most rental housing units already supply them. They don’t accept clothes because they don’t have enough space.

And they don’t accept wine or beer glasses.

“We never put anything alcohol-related out on our shelves,” Anderson said. “A lot of the time alcohol is what created the situation that brings people here. We don’t want to encourage it.”

Oyate Tipi began 14 years ago with group of women in the North End. They knew women and kids fleeing abusive relationships often had to leave their possessions behind.

Jackie Lavallee was one of the women who helped found Oyate Tipi. She is the organization’s president, but also executive director of one of its referring agencies, Taking Charge, an organization that helps women and single parents get training and employment.

Lavallee said that in about 1995, when she was then executive director of Ikwe-Widdjiitiwin, which shelters Indigenous women and children who have faced domestic violence, she kept hearing that women who had left the shelters were struggling to furnish their residences.

“One said, ‘They might have beds, but it’s not home. They don’t have mattresses, so it’s not home. I think we are doing more harm than good.’”

Lavallee said that became her call to action. After discovering other agencies had the same problem, the North End women decided to create an organization.

After a few years of fundraising and looking for a suitable building, with the help of the United Way of Winnipeg and the Bank of Montreal, Oyate Tipi opened its doors in 2003.

“We find people in Winnipeg are generous and will donate items as long as they know it is going to help people in need,” Lavallee said.

“It’s such a simple idea. We get it, we store it, and we get it out to a person. It’s so simple, but it just works.”

Oyate Tipi helps about 500 people a year as well as another 500 to 600 children. It has helped almost 5,000 people since it began.

Oyate Tipi doesn’t allow just anyone to get free furniture — they have to be referred by one of 23 community organizations.

Partner agencies include Alpha House, the Elizabeth Fry Society, Ikwe-Widdjiitiwin, Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre’s residential facilities, Willow Place and the Native Women’s Transition Centre.

Eleven Housing First organizations also make referrals.

Anderson said when a person or family is referred to Oyate Tipi, they schedule an appointment to go to the warehouse to choose items.

“We get an idea how many rooms they have to furnish and we go from there,” she said. “They have their own time. They can pick out what they need. It gives a person the time to make choices. That’s important.”

Both Anderson and Lavallee said Oyate Tipi hopes to expand, likely onto the parking lot it owns behind its warehouse, and serve as a training facility one day.

“We could train people in furniture repair,” Lavallee said. “Right now, we don’t have the space.”

Lavallee said she has heard from many people who have been helped by Oyate Tipi.

“People are so grateful,” she said. “I tell them that when they are able to, to pay it forward.”

As for the woman who was helped by Oyate Tipi, she said she has already given back by volunteering a few months with the organization. But she also looks forward to the day she is able to give back financially.

“Think about it, how much would it cost you if you had to buy it all? I had no money. I just appreciate what they did.

“They are family. That’s how I see them.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca