Mainebiz

V O L . X X X I I N O. I I JA N UA R Y 2 6 , 2 0 2 6 22 O N T H E R E C O R D B Y R E N E E C O R D E S B Y R E N E E C O R D E S Mainebiz: What is the mission of Furniture Friends? Tae Chong: It's a furniture bank, and what we provide is housing stability and dignity for people in poverty or crisis. at includes anyone com- ing out of a shelter, fleeing domestic violence or kids aging out of foster care — people who need immedi- ate furniture. We work with over 150 social service agency partners to make that happen. MB: You are working primarily with partners in the Portland area? TC: at's correct. And our dream is to be big enough so that other orga- nizations like Good Shepherd Food Bank can come to us to take furniture to help their communities. MB: You were saying that a lot of people previously living on the streets may get an apartment or home but they don't have the furniture. That's where you come in? TC: One of the biggest problems in Maine is that we will spend millions of dollars building new apartment build- ings, but there's no money for people in poverty to furnish those homes. MB: Where does the furniture come from? TC: We get a lot of furniture from indi- vidual donors, but also from institutions P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R As executive director of Furniture Friends, Tae Chong leads a Westbrook-based nonprofit provider of gently used furniture to families in need across southern Maine; in 2025 alone, it helped 862 households and about 2,000 people. Mainebiz sat down with Chong inside the 7,700-square-foot warehouse of Maine's only furniture bank. The group, staffed by six employees, has an annual budget of around $500,000. Tae Chong is executive director of Furniture Friends, a Westbrook-based nonprofit that provided basic furniture to 862 households in 2025.

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