Beds for Kids Inventory Logistics System

Our solution is a logistics software in development that connects Beds for Kids warehouses in Charlotte and Statesville, North Carolina. These warehouses support over 700 families each year and over 55 partner agencies. The technology we will use in this solution will revolutionize the logistics of our furniture bank with barcodes, RFID and sync each item in our inventory with our website and to our referral portal. This software will enhance our current tracking system, a manually updated spreadsheet by a staff member. Due to the fast pace of our programming and the increasing needs of our community, this information can be outdated and inconsistent between the warehouses. We plan to overcome this process and the human error involved by syncing the data, increasing efficiency, and delivering furniture to more families faster.

Beds for Kids serves vulnerable families in our community transitioning out of homelessness. We are part of the continuum of care supporting families. At its core, our work is an innovative housing solution working to ensure that Charlotte children and families are living in safe and nurturing, and stable residential environments. To get closer to making our vision a reality, Beds for Kids works with 55 referral partners across the Charlotte Metropolitan area and supports smaller furniture banks struggling with inventory. The solution we’ve chosen, an advanced logistics system, will use software that barcodes each furniture item as it enters the warehouse in Charlotte and Statesville. This technology is used across the logistics industry but not by furniture banks in our region. Our software will allow Beds for the Kids a look at real-time inventory. It will sync to a central hub informing Beds for Kids operations and donation commitments across Charlotte and beyond.

The paths of our families are diverse and complex and include transitioning out of homelessness or leaving domestic abuse situations while at the same time securing stable employment and signing a lease on their first apartment or home. Beds for Kids supports over 700 families each year on their journey to housing stability with an estimated race/ethnic makeup of 8% Hispanic/Latino, 88% Black or African American, 3% White, and 1% Two or More Races (Multi-Racial Individuals). 80% of the individuals we serve are under 18, with the other 20% usually being single parents moving their families out of homelessness. All families participating in our programming live in underrepresented communities in Charlotte. The referral agencies we partner with focus on providing wraparound services to families at or below the poverty line, predominantly historically marginalized and underrepresented families. Beds for Kids also has a well-established process for client feedback and uses client feedback to continue to improve our programming each year. We plan to use this client, partner, and volunteer input as we work to improve our efficiency and use the new logistics system to significantly reduce any human error in our warehouse operations and increase efficiency across the organization.

According to Mecklenburg County's Housing & Homelessness Dashboard, in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, there are over 3,162 people actively experiencing homelessness as of May 31, 2023. A recent report from the City of Charlotte has described growing concerns about housing instability and the growing homeless population. Specifically, there was a 3% increase in homelessness from 2021 to 2022; low and moderate-income households struggle to afford housing, and families remain homeless longer in emergency shelters before moving to their permanent homes. (City of Charlotte, 2023). More families each year need direct intervention to improve their quality of life, and each year, Beds for Kids continues to scale to meet this increasing need. Beds for Kids provides the intervention and helps families across Charlotte escape homelessness and start their new lives with dignity.

Beds for Kids is just one organization in Charlotte that makes the stability of community members possible, and our programming creates access to basic needs. While our primary focus is providing direct services, often in the form of one-time assistance, the impact of our furniture bank extends far beyond that. By ensuring that families have access to beds and essential furniture, we contribute to their long-term stability and well-being. Our furniture enhances their physical comfort and fosters a sense of dignity and pride in their new homes, allowing them to rebuild their lives with greater confidence and hope.

Beds for Kids assembles high-quality furniture and delivers directly to families supported by partners with wraparound services. Our immediate impact as an organization is stabilizing the community members and creating access to basic needs. While our primary focus is providing direct services, often in the form of one-time assistance, the impact of our furniture bank extends far beyond that. By ensuring that families have access to beds and essential furniture, we contribute to their long-term stability and well-being. Our furniture enhances their physical comfort and fosters a sense of dignity and pride in their new homes, allowing them to rebuild their lives with greater confidence and hope.

Beds for Kids also provides a service to partners in the community, including other furniture banks. Through these partnerships, we have supported our plan to scale to meet the needs of the service providers in the region. Our developing solution increases the impact of the donations we receive and store in our warehouses by ensuring homeless service providers, schools, and other community-focused small businesses have the resources for their clients. For furniture banks, we will give them confidence in their capacity and inventory by giving them access to our warehouses and, therefore, more families. 

Currently, Beds for Kids serves 2,985 with 55 partner agencies supported by our furniture bank and its inventory of quality furniture. In the upcoming year, Beds for Kids anticipates scaling our operations, adding five more partners, and serving 4,000 people. By year five of integrating our logistics system, Beds for Kids anticipates adding 20 partners and reaching 7,000 participants, including the rural suburbs of Charlotte.

Beds for Kids serves low-income families throughout the Charlotte Metropolitan area. With our developing logistic system for our warehouse operations, the Board and employees have influenced the strategy. The current system's inefficiencies have been documented, and we are positioned to invest in a solution that will impact our partners and community. Additional stakeholders that we have included in our community-led plans are agency partners, experts in their local areas, and volunteers who make our work possible.

Beds for Kids is well known among the community as a service provider that is thoughtful and respectful to families served. Our staff supports the family with trauma-informed practices and values from when we provide intake until the delivery and setup. Among the business owners and partners we work with, we are known as “connectors,” creating a network of support and resources amongst our agency partners and other resources in the community. The intentional information sharing and outreach create a more informed support system for families around Charlotte. Beds for Kids is the gold standard for a furniture bank and fills a significant gap in North Carolina, where there aren’t enough furniture banks to serve those who need furniture and beds.

Upon completing the warehouse’s inventory logistics system, Beds for Kids will be primed to scale outside the immediate Charlotte area. The real-time inventory and forecasting management will help Beds for Kids avoid running out of inventory and being unable to support our direct operations and partners. Another goal is to have another two to three warehouses added to our organization’s capacity by 2026, strategically storing furniture around our service area for the convenience of our staff, volunteers, and partners. And lastly, we hope to reach a service area of 10 counties, serving families transitioning out of homelessness in this area, fulfilling every referral in under two weeks.

Beds for Kids would be grateful to deepen our partnership with the Truist Foundation. We work closely with Truist employees through our volunteer program; they have had an incredible impact on our community. We want to leverage the partnership with the Truist Foundation and MIT and the investment from the award to develop the logistics system for our organization. Together, we will be one step closer to erasing furniture poverty in North Carolina.

Beds for Kids would respectfully request support in human capital and monitoring and evaluation. Adding board members would be critical to the growth we anticipate for the next few years. Additionally, we request support in monitoring and evaluation practices to position our organization for greater grant competitiveness.