FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Mandy Shurtz and her 1-year-old Abigail lost everything when Hurricane Matthew hit, flooding the Raeford Road storage area where the family’s belongings were stored.
“Everything: pictures, baby books, year books, all of our furniture, most of our clothes were ruined,” she said.
FEMA help wasn’t an option, because the items were in storage when they were damaged.
To top it off, Shurtz and one of her daughters were injured in a car wreck, both breaking their collar bones.
The Designing Station on McDuffie street in Fayetteville opened in 2012.
The furniture bank serves low income families transitioning from homelessness, domestic violence or human trafficking.
Right now, the group is working with dozens of families in Cumberland and Robeson county post Matthew.
The Designing Station helped Shurtz and her family furnish their home just in time for Thanksgiving.
“They even sent a volunteer designer out and she helped me decorate and put curtains on the wall,” Shurtz said.
But more than the furniture, the group supplies the little extras that help turn a house into a home.
“It’s overwhelming, it’s wonderful, I just feel so blessed, I feel so blessed,” Shurtz said. “They have truly helped me.”
Since Mathew the charity is in urgent need of funding for mattresses because it doesn’t distribute used mattresses.
If you would like to learn more about the Design Station, click here.