
‘Helping neighbours'
One non-profit is aiming to help mitigate furniture poverty through community connection, understanding, and a lot of elbow sweat.
The North End-based Oyate Tipi Cumini Yape — which is Oji-Cree for 'where the community meets sharing and recycling' — furniture bank was founded in 2004, but has made remarkable growth since 2022. In recent years, the non-profit has more than doubled its staff, developed several volunteering and internship programs with post-secondary schools such as MITT and the University of Manitoba, and has grown to what's now 49 local referral partners, which connect them to those in need of furniture.
'It's a closed-door issue,' said Greg Georgeson, executive director, of furniture poverty. 'People don't really know it's happening … how many families are struggling.'
Imagine a teenager, for example, Georgeson said, housed but without a bed, furniture, utensils to cook or clean with, or any of the objects needed to make a house, a home.
'It hits all the bases,' he said — self-esteem, mental and physical health, and motivation to excel in school or work.
As well, people in poverty who are housed but don't have furniture at home are far more likely to return to homelessness — 'over 80 per cent,' Georgeson said, due to a lack of community.
As someone who's experienced furniture poverty himself, Georgeson can also speak to how common it is, especially in the city's core.
People who come through Oyate Tipi are referred by one of the partners, interviewed, and then welcomed into the centre at 429 Dufferin Ave. to browse and 'shop' through the collection of clean, repaired, (environmentally conscious) pest-controlled couches, chairs, beds and bedding, china and dishes, utensils, and more.
Although most are donated — from individuals, as well as IKEA — many of the bedframes are also made on-site in a woodworking room by volunteers. Over 185 beds have been made over the last month, according to Georgeson, by 20 to 30 volunteers on any given day.
Many of the volunteers involved in programs at the organization are also from the same communities Oyate Tipi aims to serve: Indigenous youth, members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, youth who have been through the justice system, and those living in downtown neighbourhoods, to name a few. As well, youth volunteerism, as well as internships, at the bank can often pave the way for becoming paid staff in the future.
The very personalized, friendly experience, as well as giving autonomy to participants and volunteers, is what Oyate Tipi has a heavy focus on.
'You can't connect to community by providing things, connection is the broken part,' said Lyle Mustard, communications co-ordinator. 'While our primary resource is providing resources, it's community connection that's important.'
Mustard is Métis, and stressed the importance of the furniture bank's role in Indigenous communities, as many participants are facing generational trauma and a loss of stability due to the lasting impact of residential schools.
Photo by Emma Honeybun
Oyate Tipi Cumini Yape is a referral-based furniture bank in the North End. Alongside helping those facing furniture poverty, it provides volunteer and internship opportunities for youth living in the area, as well as temporary storage for those moving away from unsafe living situations.
He said that the way Oyate Tipi aims to help people is to help them like neighbours, because oftentimes, they are.
Mondays
A weekly look at news and events that matter in your communities.
'This is real life,' he said. 'We have people with lived experiences.'
Alongside the furniture bank and volunteering programming, Oyate Tipi provides education through talks and seminars and offers temporary storage for those in the process of moving out of unsafe situations.
People interested in volunteering either independently or through their workplace are encouraged to reach out. The organization also accepts monetary donations and furniture donations for the bank.
Furniture pick-up comes with a fee, which goes toward staff wages and keeping the organization afloat.
For more information, visit oyatetipi.com or follow @oyatetipi on Instagram and Facebook.
Emma Honeybun
Emma Honeybun is a reporter/photographer for the Free Press Community Review. She graduated RRC Polytech's creative communications program, with a specialization in journalism, in 2023. Email her at emma.honeybun@freepress.mb.ca
Read full biography
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Vancouver Sun
2 hours ago
- Vancouver Sun
'A big bang and a pop': Passengers use emergency slide to flee smoking plane at Denver airport
Passengers slid down an emergency slide of a smoking jet at Denver International Airport due to a possible problem with the plane's landing gear, authorities said. American Airlines Flight 3023 reported a 'possible landing gear incident' during its departure from Denver on Saturday afternoon, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The problem involved an aircraft tire, the Fort Worth, Texas-based company said in a statement. The Boeing 737 MAX 8 carrying 173 passengers and six crew members was on its way to Miami International Airport, American said. Video aired by local media showed people sliding down the inflatable chute near the front of the plane while clutching luggage and small children. Some passengers, including at least one adult carrying a young child, tripped at the end of the slide and fell onto the concrete runway. Passengers were then taken to the terminal by bus. Shocking footage has surfaced showing passengers urgently evacuating an aircraft at Denver International Airport, USA. One of the passengers was taken to a hospital with a minor injury, American Airlines said in its statement. Five people were evaluated for injuries at the scene but did not require hospitalization, Denver International Airport officials said. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'About halfway to takeoff speed, we hear a big bang and a pop,' passenger Shaun Williams told KUSA-TV. 'The pilot immediately started abort procedures for taking off. You could feel him start to hit the brakes.' Firefighters extinguished a fire on the aircraft, the Denver Fire Department said. 'All customers and crew deplaned safely, and the aircraft was taken out of service to be inspected by our maintenance team,' American said. In a statement, the FAA said it will investigate. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .


Edmonton Journal
2 hours ago
- Edmonton Journal
'A big bang and a pop': Passengers use emergency slide to flee smoking plane at Denver airport
Article content Passengers slid down an emergency slide of a smoking jet at Denver International Airport due to a possible problem with the plane's landing gear, authorities said. Article content American Airlines Flight 3023 reported a 'possible landing gear incident' during its departure from Denver on Saturday afternoon, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The problem involved an aircraft tire, the Fort Worth, Texas-based company said in a statement. Article content Article content The Boeing 737 MAX 8 carrying 173 passengers and six crew members was on its way to Miami International Airport, American said. Article content Video aired by local media showed people sliding down the inflatable chute near the front of the plane while clutching luggage and small children. Some passengers, including at least one adult carrying a young child, tripped at the end of the slide and fell onto the concrete runway. Passengers were then taken to the terminal by bus. Article content Article content Shocking footage has surfaced showing passengers urgently evacuating an aircraft at Denver International Airport, USA. — MDN NEWS (@MDNnewss) July 27, 2025 Article content One of the passengers was taken to a hospital with a minor injury, American Airlines said in its statement. Five people were evaluated for injuries at the scene but did not require hospitalization, Denver International Airport officials said. Article content Article content 'About halfway to takeoff speed, we hear a big bang and a pop,' passenger Shaun Williams told KUSA-TV. 'The pilot immediately started abort procedures for taking off. You could feel him start to hit the brakes.' Article content Firefighters extinguished a fire on the aircraft, the Denver Fire Department said. Article content 'All customers and crew deplaned safely, and the aircraft was taken out of service to be inspected by our maintenance team,' American said. Article content


Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Mexico City marks 700 years since its founding by Indigenous people
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico City is marking the 700th anniversary of its founding with a series of public events on Saturday, including artistic performances honoring the city's Indigenous origins. Artists in Indigenous clothing reenacted the founding of the Aztec capital in front of the country's top officials in Mexico City's main square. Later, hundreds of dancers dressed in traditional clothing, feather headdresses, drums, and ankle rattles made of seeds performed sacred dances meant to connect with nature. The anniversary commemorates the establishment of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Mexica, a group also known as the Aztecs, who settled in the Valley of Mexico in 1325. As recorded by early Spanish chroniclers, Mexica elders told of a divine sign from their patron god Huitzilopochtli: an eagle on a cactus, signaling where to settle. That place became Tenochtitlan, the center of Aztec civilization and the site of today's Mexico City. That symbol was later recorded in the Codex Mendoza, which contained historical accounts of the Aztec empire. It became central to Mexican identity and appears today on the national flag. 'Mexico was not born with the arrival of the Spanish; Mexico was born much earlier with the great civilizations,' said President Claudia Sheinbaum in a speech in which she urged the eradication of the racism that still persists in the country. Tenochtitlan began as a village on an island in a lake ringed by volcanic peaks. But historians say many other details that have come down in history are based heavily on legend, and that the exact founding date is unknown. By the time the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, they were awed by a city filled with palaces, bridges, canals and bustling trade, according to Spanish chronicler and conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo. Historian Miguel Pastrana of the National Autonomous University of Mexico's Historic Investigations Institute, an expert on Tenochtitlan, said the weekend's festivities are 'political and civic' and do not reflect the latest historical research. The historical record describes the Mexica as a people who migrated from a place called Aztlan, supposedly an island whose exact location remains unknown. They knew how to fish, gather aquatic plants and hunt birds, as well as build dams, and they tried to settle in several places before arriving in the Valley of Mexico. The main island in the lake was already populated by the Tepaneca people, but they allowed the Mexica to settle there in exchange for tribute payments and other services, Pastrana said. Little by little, the Mexica's power grew. They were strong warriors and commercially prosperous, and they were effective at making alliances with other peoples. Tenochtitlan became a great city at the center of an empire until the Spanish conquered it in 1521.