HopeNow had its beginnings in a small committee of the Faith Lutheran Church of Mount Vernon, providing household furnishings to women and children leaving New Directions, the domestic abuse shelter of Knox County.  They stored donated furniture in the church’s boiler room in the basement.  As word spread about their assistance, many other people sought help because they could not afford to furnish their homes. 

The group recruited volunteers from other churches in the community to help and organized themselves into Faiths United for Families (FUFF).  Their furniture storage needs kept increasing, so they had to move to new accommodations several times in the next few years.

Eventually  a much larger storage area was needed.  Ariel Corporation generously offered HopeNow a spacious 9,000+ sq. ft. warehouse rent-free, located at 1201 South Main Street in Mount Vernon, our current location.

HopeNow has become a recognized local service organization in the community, helping over 3,000 households since its beginning, and providing over 25,000 items of furniture and 7,500 boxes of household goods.   Its environmental impact is impressive:  It has recycled a total volume of furniture equal to that of 180 semi-trailers!