Joni K. Creates Her Home and Haven Through Bridging
04/26/2023 This post was written by Beth Smith
Vivacious and good-humored, Joni approaches every life opportunity and turn with a positive outlook and perseverance. She is grateful for many blessings in her life including a strong faith, an extended family that helps co-parent her children, and community resources like Bridging, that recognize her incredible resilience.
A customer service professional for most of her career, she loves engaging customers and helping her team resolve daily challenges. She has worked primarily in the financial services industry. A lifelong learner, she loves to read books about Black history and women’s history to explore an important context, strengths, and inequities that she feels interwoven with her identity.
Years ago, emerging behavior health issues impacted Joni’s employment and daily life. She had to retire from her job and could no longer afford housing.
“I was living from pillow to post. I was sleeping on the light rail, on people’s couches, and in shelters for 17 years,” she says. “For the first 10 years, I had a drug addiction. For the last seven years, I’ve celebrated my sobriety. Every day.”
Working with a housing stabilization case manager at Hennepin County, Joni recently secured an apartment and a partner agency referral to Bridging.
Several weeks later, she enjoyed a personalized shopping experience at the furniture bank, browsing the aisles and selecting furniture and household goods she needed.
“Anytime you are shopping for the home, it’s always fun. It was wonderful having volunteers to help with color coordination, quality, and knowledge of products. They helped me find what I wanted. They weren’t judgmental. I felt a sense of compassion.”
With a vintage vision in mind, Joni was thrilled to furnish her entire home with items for her comfortable and functional home. From pillows to bedding and dishes to lamps, she is thrilled with her choices.
“I got a mattress from Bridging. My bed is fit for a queen!” It’s very comfortable,” she says. “I also love my cherry wood kitchen table. It doubles as a desk,” she says.
Joni was grateful for the Bridging warehouse and delivery team who assembled her bed and placed the coordinated couches and end tables in her living room, just the way she liked.
A huge help for Joni was being able to furnish her home without having to worry about how to pay for it.
“I’m on a fixed income, and I can’t afford these things,” she says. It really matters to me to have an agency out there that will assist me with furnishings at no expense to me.”
Every morning, Joni enjoys a cup of coffee at her kitchen table and prepares for the day.
On weekdays, she works remotely at her desk. She is thrilled about her new full-time customer service role with a large Twin Cities-based bank. On weekends, she ponders a leisurely swim or perhaps trying on a new hobby like bowling or roller-skating. She smiles at the thought of a new adventure.
Joni often reflects on how her furnished home impacts her stability and hope for the future. “Things are better. Now I live in my own furnished place. And it’s my haven. I’ve come a long way. I have faced adversities, and my choices have made me the person I am today.”
The 2023 spring fundraising appeal at Bridging is off and running!
As a supporter of Bridging, your donation has a meaningful impact as thousands of individuals and families experience comfort, hope, and new beginnings in homes they furnish at Bridging! Will you join us by making a financial gift today?