Our WHY AI:
Addressing the Hidden Crisis of Furniture Poverty
At Furniture Bank, our mission is deeply rooted in addressing a hidden crisis that many don’t even know exists – addressing the hidden gap between Housing and Home.
When an apartment becomes available, there’s no magic that transforms it into a home. The stark truth is that creating a functional living space requires at least $4,000—a sum out of reach for many families emerging from crisis. Meanwhile, our society discards over 15 million tons of furniture annually. This disconnect leaves 1.6 million Canadian families in limbo—they have housing but lack the means to make it a true home.
Imagine families surviving on bare floors, using milk crates as tables, struggling to eat, study, sleep, and thrive in such conditions. This is the reality of furniture poverty—invisible yet profoundly impactful.
At Furniture Bank, we’ve always sought innovative solutions—from social enterprise, lots of technology, social finance, and impact measurement to bridge this gap. In 2022, we turned to AI as our latest tool. Why AI? Because it offers a responsible and beneficial way to dramatically amplify our impact, reaching more families and supporting them better.
By being curious about AI’s application into our organization, we’re not just adopting new technology; we’re reimagining how we can combat furniture poverty more effectively. It’s about using every available tool to ensure that when a family gets housing, they can truly create a furnished home—a place where they cannot just exist but thrive.
Key Milestones in our AI Journey:
- 2022: First AI-generated image campaign “The Picture Isn’t Real, The Reality Is!”
- 2023: Established our AI Manifesto and started experimenting with what AI knew about furniture poverty.
- 2024: Implemented AI-augmented contact centre for social enterprise customers, clients, and donors.
- 2025: Exploring AI Workflows, Agents, and Automations across different departments to create new capabilities historically seen as impossible for us.
