Looking back on 2022, we can say this was the year when Marvin’s Home found a home. The space on Main Street in Lansdale has been transformative. Instead of rummaging through storage lockers and volunteers doing the heavy lifting, donations are now organized and accessible, and a delivery team loads and unloads the big items so volunteers can focus on creating a home. Home on Main, the resale store, sells the donated items which cannot be used on installs. It is is now open four days a week and generating steady sales! Prior to opening, we were unsure of interest and it has been wonderful to experience the endless welcome of the Lansdale community.

This change has come at a cost. Marvin’s Home now has a monthly “nut” of rent, utilities, insurance, and other expenses of $3,000. Each install costs about $500. Although we use donated items, we pay a delivery team and purchase pillows, mattress pads, wash cloths, cleaning supplies, window treatments, etc. for each install. We have done one install a month this year and now that we are settled in the space, plan to do two a month next year, making that another $1,000 a month expense.

This is the time of year when many of us make end of year charitable donations. Would you consider donating to Marvin’s Home because, in doing so, you are helping create a home and build a future. For one install, a $200 donation will pay the delivery team and a $500 donation will pay all the expenses. If you can donate less, $30 buys a mattress pad. If you can donate more, $3,000 keeps Home on Main and the storage space behind it open for another month. If you support our mission, please also consider setting up your donation as a recurring monthly donation so you help us every month in 2023 in whatever amount you can. We appreciate each and every dollar that you contribute and because we are totally volunteer operated, each dollar goes to helping people, not to any administrative costs.

We are the lucky ones. We get to spend the holidays in our homes with our families. It’s wonderful to give and receive gifts, but please consider giving the gift of a donation which helps someone else have a home. “You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” John Bunyan

Above: the before and after bedroom from our 35th install, Nov. 26th.

Above: The happy faces from our 36th install last weekend - or at least one happy face! These two precious people were sitting on the floor in an empty apartment and now they have a home! After the excitement of the sofa, the new bed got a hug!

Thank you Angie!