Iowa Nonprofit Furnished 422 Homes in Record-Breaking Year

What started with two Iowa City mothers trying to get one child a bed has grown into a furniture bank that helped 1,240 people across 422 homes last year alone.

Houses into Homes held its second annual Home Sweet Home fundraiser at ReUnion Brewery in October, celebrating a record-breaking 2025. The nonprofit donated over 200 tons of furniture with help from eight employees and 1,000 volunteers.

Executive Director Ian Cawley shared the organization's humble beginnings at the event. In 2018, two women learned a student at their local elementary school had no bed to sleep in at home, so they found him one. Then they heard about another student with the same need, and another.

"They didn't set out to create a nonprofit," Cawley said. "They were just responding to a need and now we're this, nine years later, which is pretty cool."

The nonprofit takes furniture donations and upcycles them when needed before giving them to anyone who asks. Retired volunteer Steve Smith has transformed oversized furniture into about 100 smaller tables over three years, combining his love of woodworking with community service.

Houses into Homes partners with immigrant support groups, domestic violence programs, Veterans Affairs, and the City of Iowa City. The organization helped furnish Valor Pointe, a housing complex for veterans, and received the 2026 Bill Regan Human Rights Award for its human rights contributions.

The Ripple Effect

The furniture does more than fill empty rooms. Follow-up surveys show 86 percent of recipients reported better sleep, 91 percent felt less personal stress, and 96 percent said their home became a place they enjoy.

One referral agent shared how the experience affected her client beyond the physical furniture. "Your organization and staff reinforced for her that there are still good people who truly care in this world," she wrote. "She needed that as much as she needed the furnishings."

Co-founder Lucy Barker announced she's stepping back from her full-time role but will continue volunteering. After watching the nonprofit grow for almost a decade, she feels confident in its future.

"We just wanted to get kids beds," Barker said. "We didn't know that almost nine years later we would be able to furnish so many homes, work with so many community members."

Cawley sees the record-breaking year as just the beginning of what's possible when a community comes together around a simple idea: everyone deserves a comfortable place to call home.