Make A Home Foundation Information Breakfast for Community Leaders Tomorrow at 9 a.m.-Veterans-Focused Non-Profit

The non-profit Make A Home Foundation Inc., (MAHF) at 23 Commercial Street in Waterbury will host a free Informational Breakfast for leaders in  the Greater Waterbury political, business, non-profit and religious communities tomorrow, Thursday, June 19 at 9:00 a.m. The ambition will be to educate the greater community about MAHF’s mission to raise funds to help veterans and their families in crisis by providing them with free gently-used furniture and household items (www.mahfct.org).

MAHF President and Co-Founder Anita Pettengill stated, “We  reach out and support at-risk individuals by helping them ‘Make A Home’ for themselves. We provide support and household furnishings and goods to Veterans, victims of natural disasters such as fires and crisis, parent and child escaping from domestic violence, poor and homeless people, individuals transitioning out of shelters and halfway houses. We provide these individuals and families in-need with basic home furnishing and household goods. It’s our experience that these much-needed basic provisions help to bring dignity and self-respect to these individuals and their families, and helps promote their success as they begin their new lives. This program also reduces the environmental footprint by redistributing furnishings that would otherwise land in local landfills.”

MAHF accomplishes their goals through donated financial support from the community at large, corporate and personal sponsorships, grants and private tax-deductible donations, and by selling their household items at their Amazing Thrift Store at 23 Commercial Street in Waterbury which is open daily to the public Mondays through Saturdays 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. 

Founded in 2010 in Newtown, Make A Home Foundation moved to Waterbury in January 2014 and opened their Amazing Thrift Store in May. “Due to extensive cleanup and renovation needs of this vast 40,000 square foot former warehouse and office space, we only recently received our Certificate of Occupation (C.O.) to open our Amazing Thrift Store,” stated MAHF Vice President and Co-Founder Dan Telesco.

”To educate people in the Greater Waterbury region,” stated Pettengill, “we're hosting this Informational Breakfast on June 19 to describe how we help veterans and their families, and to let people know about our Amazing Thrift Store. MAHF is dependent on community awareness to increase sales in our thrift store and monetary donations to sustain our mission. We're inviting community leaders to come and see our enormous inventory of gently-used household furnishings and goods that we sell to the general public in our thrift store. We also want them to know that we collect gently-used household furnishings and accessories, including appliances and electronics, and deliver them to veterans, families and individuals in need who have been pre-qualified by cooperative social and community service agencies across Connecticut.”

Pettengill added, “There are approximately 58,000 homeless Veterans across the United States. Once they are provided with housing by the U.S. Government they need to secure their own furnishings. They need community agencies and groups like us, and the people of the United States, to help them ‘Make A Home’ for themselves. We are one resource for them to secure what they need here in the Greater Waterbury region as well as serving the entire state of Connecticut.

Make a Home Foundation Inc. is an independent 501(c) (3) that houses their Amazing Thrift Store which is open to veterans and the general public and sells quality household items at significantly discounted prices. The MAHF Amazing Thrift Store offers a 20% discount to all Veterans and First Responders with proper ID.

Speakers at the June 19 MAHF Information Breakfast will include the Mayor of Waterbury, Neil O’Leary; Sherri Vogt of Veterans Outreach; and the Office of Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty. The free event will be held at the MAHF’s Amazing Thrift Store at 23 Commercial Street, Waterbury. A light breakfast will be served.

To RSVP to the breakfast, or provide a tax-deductible donation or to volunteer to the MAHF, contact Anita Pettengill at anita@mahfct.org or call 203-270-5501x303. To learn more, visit www.MAHFCT.ORG.