One of the best things about the work we do at The Furniture Project is getting to know so many different people. We get to learn about their challenges and victories, their daily struggles and what drives them to go on, hopeful for what the future has in store for them.
So often, it can be hard because while we truly care about each person we serve, the interaction is frequently fleeting, and we must part ways to serve the next family. Often, I've found myself driving down a street, seeing a house we’ve delivered to, remembering a family who once lived there, or maybe still does, and wondering:
💛 How are they doing? 💜 How old must the children be now? 💚 Did Mom get the job she wanted? 🧡 Did they find a community to support them and belong to?
I always hope I might run into someone, and they remember getting furniture from The Furniture Project. Honestly though, it doesn't happen very often. But it did happen recently.
A New Beginning in Omaha
In November 2021, I was in the midst of helping to prepare homes for many of the families who would be starting their lives over in Omaha after being forced to flee from everything they had ever known in Afghanistan. During this period, only months before we would move into our current warehouse and begin to assemble the team who would help build The Furniture Project we know today, I was still by myself and asking friends for assistance. I got a call from a respected elder in Omaha's Afghan community asking if I could help provide everything for a family of five arriving very soon. I said, "Yes, of course," and began assembling the items they would need.
On November 15, 2021, I arrived to begin moving everything into the Millard-area home and met Esmatullah and his family. Esmatullah told me about his life in Afghanistan and the work he did before coming to America. He talked about how proud he was of his young boys. It was clear that in so many ways, he was just like me, a thirty- or forty-something-year-old dad willing to do whatever he had to do to take care of the people who meant the world to him. And he told me about his plans. He had been in America only days and while we were standing there, he received a phone call inviting him to a job interview he had applied for. I couldn't believe how fast he was getting his feet under him here in his new home.
I spent a few hours assembling beds and other furniture around the house, and we parted ways. It was bittersweet, as it always is to meet an amazing person you would love to get to know better. Then you must leave knowing that, in all likelihood, this will be the last time you speak to or see each other.
But that's part of this work. You say "hello" and you say "goodbye" and you hope that the time in between has made someone else's life better. That it has made someone feel welcomed. You hope you've left an impression that says, "You're loved. You and your family are part of a community that cares about you and is thrilled that you will make the next chapter of your life here."
And then we have to move on to the next name on your list to deliver their furniture. And time goes by.
The Moment Everything Came Full Circle
And once in a while, like in a movie, it happens. You turn around, and a face you're sure you've seen before is standing in front of you, smiling and wondering if you still remember them.
It was July of this year, and a truck was backed into the loading dock of our warehouse. I looked to see who was here to pick up, and I saw Esmatullah! He was here, but what for? Well, it turns out he was working for one of our agency partners. He was picking up furniture for a family who, just like his own a few years earlier, was preparing to begin their own life here in "Our Town" with his help.
We hugged. We caught up, closing the distance that those five years had created. His children are now five years older, growing up in Omaha, just like me. Just like my kids. Everyone is good. Growing and establishing new roots.
Strength That Offers Hope
As I reflect on Esmatullah, I think of several other people our team has been so fortunate to meet over the years. People with names like Jamal and Abbas. Men and women who, once they've settled into their new lives here, immediately get to work helping others and offering hope. Serving the families yet to arrive. Because they know what life is like on the other side of that plane ride with so many unknowns and without any guarantees.
It's incredibly humbling and inspiring. I feel motivated to be worthy to serve alongside such amazing people who have escaped some of the most horrible situations in history. And instead of being crushed by the enormity of their experience, they are forged into someone new. Someone so much stronger. Someone unbreakable.