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- Men from Hephatha Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, load a truck borrowed from Faith Santa Fe Lutheran Church in Milwaukee to make deliveries for Share Our Best Furniture Ministry. Photos: Courtesy of Share Our Best Furniture Ministry
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- Volunteers assemble a bed for a client. In 2024, the group was able to provide beds for 28 children.
David Rebey knows all too well the challenges people face after being released from incarceration. As pastor of Breaking the Chains Church—a new-start congregation inside Felmers O. Chaney Correctional Center in Wisconsin—Rebey has seen his congregants struggle with meeting even the most basic needs once they reenter life after prison.
“One of the men at Felmers Chaney contacted me and said, ‘I’m getting out of prison in 30 days, and Pastor, I have a wife and six children, and we have nothing,’” Rebey said.
Upon hearing this, Rebey knew exactly whom to call: Andy Dederich, coordinator of Share Our Best Furniture Ministry. The ministry collects donated furniture and home goods and delivers them to people in need.
“We got together some of our volunteers with Andy’s volunteers, and we were able to furnish the family’s entire house,” Rebey said. “When we left that night, there was a bed for every child.”
Share Our Best Furniture Ministry launched four years ago as a partnership between Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Menomonee Falls, Wis.—of which Dederich is a member—and Hephatha Lutheran Church in Milwaukee. Dederich said folks at Holy Cross had furniture in good condition that they wanted to donate, so they contacted Hephatha to see if the church knew of anyone who could use a bed or sofa.
“There are a lot of kids who have been sleeping on the floor because they don’t have beds,” Dederich said. “That drove us to say, ‘What can we do?’ We knew we had things, and people to deliver them, that would bring a little more hope and comfort to their lives.”
The ministry slowly began to grow, with enough furniture donations coming in to necessitate storage space and delivery vehicles. For these, Dederich approached Outreach for Hope, an initiative of the Greater Milwaukee Synod that raises and distributes funds to ministries helping those in need.
“We came up with support funds that could help them rent a storage facility,” said Chris Manke, a pastor who serves as executive director of Outreach for Hope. “The Greater Milwaukee Synod also did a campaign called Equipping the Saints, which raised funds for various ministries, and we knew supporting this collaboration between Hephatha and Holy Cross would be a perfect fit.”
“We knew we had things, and people to deliver them, that would bring a little more hope and comfort to their lives.”
Manke also connected Dederich with Rebey and Breaking the Chains, which holds worship at Felmers Chaney and at the Kenosha (Wis.) Correctional Center. The ministry aims to provide spiritual guidance and support to inmates not only while they’re incarcerated but also once they’re released.
“They’re precious children of God just like you and me, and they have made mistakes in the past, but they’re trying to start over,” Rebey said. “When they don’t have support, like a safe, affordable, clean place to live, a bed to lay their head on and a job or supportive community, they can really struggle.”
Rebey said the time immediately after release can be especially critical for those who don’t have a solid support system outside the prison walls. The simple gift of a bed or a kitchen table can go a long way toward equipping them for a successful comeback after incarceration.
“We in society constantly wonder why so many people coming out of incarceration wind up going back to prison,” Rebey said. “It’s because they don’t have life’s basic needs, and we’re not giving them a fair chance to start over. Simple things like a bed or a table to eat at or a microwave where you can warm your food make a huge difference. They’re so appreciative, and it doesn’t guarantee success, but it gives them a chance.”
Dederich said that as the need for furnishings grows—not only for Breaking the Chains members but for others in need—Share Our Best Furniture Ministry is looking at ways to scale its operation. That means not only more furnishings but also space to store the pieces until they can be delivered, and vehicles and manpower to make those deliveries.
“Our next step is, develop the organization so that we can apply for grant money,” he said. “We have looked at other fair/balanced ways to generate some income so we can continue what we’re doing.”
Until then, Dederich said, he and his team will continue working with their partners in the Greater Milwaukee Synod to furnish as many homes as possible and demonstrate the power of God’s love to change lives in ways great and small.
“It has really been about creating the connections between churches and people,” he said. “And it’s amazing what good things can be done when those connections are made.”
