Furniture Friends Community Impact & Development VISTA

Help Furniture Friends strengthen systems and partnerships, allowing us to improve housing stability and alleviate poverty for individuals and families in need!

Furniture Friends is a small community-focused, non-profit organization in Westbrook, ME, committed to reducing homelessness and improving housing stability by providing essential furniture to families and individuals in need across southern Maine at no cost. Last year, Furniture Friends provided 864 households with critical furniture to create their homes. The essential furniture we provide does more than fill a room—it creates safety, stability, and dignity foundational to health and wellbeing. With community support, Furniture Friends has been creating homes and rebuilding lives since 2012. Since our founding, we have supported roughly 18,000 individuals (including 6,000+ children) and diverted over 2.6 million lbs. of furniture from the waste stream. 

To learn more about our work, please visit our website furniturefriends.org. 

The AmeriCorps VISTA member will build Furniture Friends’ capacity by expanding our volunteer pool and furniture donation network through outreach, relationship-building, and community partnerships. They will create social media and marketing materials, support event planning, grant writing, and fundraising, and help grow unrestricted financial support to meet operational needs. By strengthening volunteer systems and community partnerships, the member will improve housing security and stability, ensuring individuals and families have access to essential furniture. These efforts alleviate poverty by reducing barriers for households transitioning out of homelessness or financial hardship, supporting stable, dignified homes, and allowing families to focus on employment, education, health, and long-term stability.

Fluency in languages including, but not limited to, French, Portuguese, and Lingala is helpful (but not required) for this position.

Benefits

• Bi-Weekly Living Allowance of $957.46/Biweekly
• Relocation Allowance of $750 plus $.40 per mile (for those moving more than 50 miles)
• Health Benefits
• Childcare Reimbursement if Eligible
• Student Loan Forbearance for eligible federal loans (interest paid by AmeriCorps)
• Training and Professional Development
• Life Navigator (on-staff licensed counselor for members)
• Choice of Segal AmeriCorps Education Award ($7,395) or an end-of-term bonus ($1,800) upon term completion
• Non-Competitive Eligibility for federal employment for one-year post-term
• Extensive Training
• Access to donated furniture, appliances, equipment, etc.

*Individuals are limited to two full Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards in their lifetime

Already have a MyAmeriCorps account and want to apply for this specific role? You can find that listing on MyAmeriCorps here.

The positive impact VISTA members offer their local communities is remarkable and continues to build year after year. Descriptions of all Goodwill AmeriCorps Positions can be found at: goodwillnne.org/jobs/americorps/positions/.