Heads Without Beds: Leaders Edition

Local leaders are spending one night without their beds so others won’t have to.

One night. One goal.

On any given night, hundreds of people throughout our region sleep on floors, yoga mats or deflating air mattresses because they don’t have a bed to sleep in.

Home Again Furniture Bank’s campaign Heads Without Beds: Leaders Edition, provides an opportunity for an inspiring group of executives and other community leaders to do something about that. Each participant is raising awareness and funds to support the free delivery of beds, sofas, tables and other essential furnishings to families and individuals of all ages, backgrounds and circumstances.

The Cause

Home Again Furniture Bank is a nonprofit aiming to end furniture poverty right here on the Northeast Avalon. We collect and redistribute gently-used furniture to families and individuals of all ages, backgrounds and circumstances who are referred. As the sole furniture bank in the region, Home Again has 35+ frontline partner agencies and organizations who rely on our service to meet their clients’ furniture needs.

In fewer than eight years, Home Again has furnished 2,300+ homes with essential furnishings. For Tina, this meant an end to her kids sleeping at their aunties and grandparents homes – it meant a family reunited. “Life is so much better. I have a comfortable, safe home… The furniture helped us, not just with comfort, but it gave my children a place of belonging and took a lot of stress and worry off of my plate.”

The “Heads”: Our Participants.

Peter Adams, VP Fleet Operations, Ocean Choice International

Captain Peter Adams is a Master Mariner with 20+ years of progressive leadership. During his sea-going career, he has worked on cruise ships, ferries, and bulk carriers. Transitioning ashore, Peter has taken various leadership roles in operations, administration and sales in the public, indigenous, and private sectors. He is presently the VP Fleet Operations for Ocean Choice International where he manages a fleet of offshore factory freezer trawlers harvesting sustainable seafood for the global seafood market.

Sponsor Me

Ruth Bell Steinhauer, President, Cohen’s Furniture

Ruth is the President and Co-owner of Cohen's Furniture, which has been serving Newfoundland customers since 1919 with the first store opening in Grand Falls. Cohen's now boasts more than 100 employees in 12 Corporate and 2 Franchise Stores throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. Cohen's and Ruth are well acquainted with Home Again as a proud partner. Cohen's recommends customers to donate their used furniture to Home Again once they've purchased new and Ruth is happy to join the group of Leaders to continue to raise awareness for the furniture bank.

Sponsor Me

Tina Birmingham, Sr. Architect, Principal, Gibbons Snow Architects

Tina is a Senior Architect and Co-Owner of Gibbons Snow Architects located in downtown St. John’s. Tina has been delivering thoughtful and innovative design solutions in the built environment for over 25 years with a focus and expertise in healthcare and environments for aging. Tina has always felt an acute awareness and responsibility to the human experience demonstrated through her design work and advocacy for social equity. She has rappelled off high-rise buildings for Easter Seals, lost sleep baking muffins for LIVESTRONG, built Nelson Mandela out of soup cans for CANSTRUCTION, and sold an unthinkable number of Girl Guide cookies in her lifetime. She looks forward to working with this year’s team of leaders for Heads Without Beds to help raise awareness and financial support for the Home Again Furniture Bank.