Last year, Hello Neighbor staff and volunteers set up 85 homes for new neighbors. Most of the items in these homes, from curtains to stock pots, were provided as in kind donations by our wonderful community of volunteers, donors, and advocates. We store these donations in a metal warehouse, conveniently located in the parking lot behind our office.

As we support more families, our storage needs have grown. Last fall, we were able to refloor a portion of the warehouse and install 13 additional shelving units. Now, we are able to store not only basic household goods, but special items like:

• Car seats, baby bouncers, and cribs for families in the Smart Start program
• A limited quantity of mattresses and furniture items
• Special items like bicycles and sewing machines from our Welcome Home registry, designed to let new neighbors choose up to $200 worth of gifts to make their transition to the U.S. easier

While the wonderful Antonio Gentile & Sons Contracting completed the flooring work, dozens of volunteers have cleaned, organized, and maintained the storage space. A special shoutout goes to Claire Larkin, who not only designed to-scale plans for the space but also printed and installed signs! Now, a group of student consultants from the CMU Info Systems Capstone Class are helping us build a system to track and manage inventory.  

Watch the warehouse transformation happen in photos: 

Looking for ways to support our new neighbors? Check out the Get Involved page, where you can view our List of Accepted Donations or sign up for a Volunteer Info Session.