House to Home program provides reclaimed household goods to new arrivals

The Bower is an environmental non-for-profit repair and reuse organisation that aims to reducing the amount of goods sent to landfill. 

Their range of services and programs are based on their ethos of reusing and repairing items, with the organisation currently having agreements to collect, repair and rehome unwanted household products from over 20 Sydney metropolitan councils.

One of their initiatives, the House to Home program, was launched in 2016 in partnership with SSI, and aims to assist newly arrived refugees and people seeking asylum. Since its inception, the initiative has provided over 200 families with free household goods. 

Items provided to new arrivals are delivered to their homes by the Bower, and include saved and repaired furniture, white goods, kitchenalia and homewares, worth an average of $245 per family. 

Louise Grace who runs the House to Home project explained that the simple act of welcoming new arrivals to choose their own furniture and homewares to set up their new housing, and make it their home, can go some way to restoring someone’s hope for the future.

“Being able to provide, free of charge, clean, comfortable furniture to somebody starting out in a new country is a great feeling,” she said.

This partnership between experts in the revitalisation of preloved household goods and those dedicated to settlement services has been successful in creating more sustainable communities.

More information on The Bower here.