Fresh Start Furnishings

The inspiration for Fresh Start Furnishings (FSF) began with one young woman and her empty apartment. While working with teens in foster care, our founder Alicia Hamilton met Stormy, a transitioning foster youth who was moving into her first place. Stormy had nothing but the clothes in her closet, a twin mattress on the floor, and a $300 gift card to Walmart that the independent living program had given her. Determined to help, Alicia rallied her network, filled a box truck with donated furniture, and delivered it to her new apartment. This experience led Alicia to wonder who else in the county may be experiencing this hardship.

After meeting with a variety of local community members, Alicia discovered a gap in services that was only being filled by two older women through independent church ministries. We began meeting together and the idea to form a nonprofit with the mission of transforming empty houses into homes by providing furniture and home goods at no cost to people in need, was born. Since that day, we have been dedicated to ensuring that every Harford County citizen transitioning from homelessness can have a stable, functional, and dignified place to call home.

Starting from scratch, Alicia drew on her own experiences of loss, poverty, and resilience to build the organization. Since its founding in 2016, FSF has grown from a small volunteer-driven initiative into a structured nonprofit with one staff member, 83 regularly serving volunteers, and an FY26 budget of $268,000. In its first year, the organization served 5 households per month with a $5,000 budget. Today, FSF serves an average of 27 households monthly, requiring nearly 90 volunteer hours per week. The organization serves a diverse population including low-income children, seniors, veterans, people in recovery, re-entry individuals, people with disabilities, DV survivors, foster youth, victims of natural disasters and more.