For Zoe James, there’s no place like home. Her Winston-Salem apartment has a fully stocked kitchen and the lavish pink couch — yes, pink — she’d dreamed of owning. Artwork hangs on the walls, and decorative knickknacks are sprinkled throughout the space. It’s not the furnishings, however, that make her home special — it’s the story behind them.

Eighteen months ago, James was experiencing homelessness. After the death of her adoptive mother — and with no other immediate family in North Carolina — James found herself unhoused, unable to pay her bills with a meager waitress salary. She wound up in a shelter.

illustration by Jana Salnikova/iStock/Getty Images Plus

It was there that James learned about greeNest (pronounced “green nest”), a Winston-Salem nonprofit that provides new and gently used home furnishings to individuals and families experiencing a housing crisis. If she could find affordable housing, greeNest would help provide household furnishings — a sofa, a kitchen table, bedroom furniture, lamps, bedding, dishes, whatever she needed — for a nominal fee.

“I’d never heard of it,” James says. “It sounded a little too good to be true.” It was true, though. Once James had saved enough money to rent an affordable apartment, her case manager formally referred her to greeNest so she could furnish the space.

In August 2023, James went on that shopping spree and immediately spotted the one item she’d had her heart set on: the pink couch. “I cried tears of joy,” she says. “I knew immediately that I wanted that pink couch, and once I found it, all the other furnishings I picked out matched it. I was like a kid in a candy store.”

For greeNest’s staff and volunteers, James’s experience isn’t unusual. “Every day, we have stories we can share about people — the things they’ve been through, what they’ve done to be able to come here, how they’ve persevered, and their hopes and dreams,” says Julia Toone, the agency’s executive director.

GreeNest’s signature Finally Home program has furnished about 2,000 homes since its inception in 2015. The program relies on the generosity of community members who donate new and gently used items to the agency. The items are cleaned up, repaired when necessary, and then displayed in the greeNest showroom.

illustration by Jana Salnikova/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Participants are referred to greeNest through one of more than 100 partner agencies that identify people in need, like the Salvation Army and Family Services. Once approved, each family or individual gets a private shopping appointment. Items are priced using a points system that roughly translates to a dollar amount. Participants choose what they want to buy, and the points are tallied to arrive at the final price. “If you have nothing and you need everything, it comes to about $300,” Toone says.

The program wouldn’t be possible without a little Christmas magic. Every November, greeNest partners with Dewey’s Bakery to operate a pop-up Christmas shop that sells not only Dewey’s baked goods but also a variety of Christmas decor, from wreaths, ornaments, and miniature Christmas villages to stockings, tree skirts, holiday dishes, and more.

The holiday merchandise is all donated, so the prices are low. More important, all proceeds from the sales — plus a percentage of proceeds from the Dewey’s goodies — go to greeNest. Last year, the store sold nearly 6,000 Christmas items and raised approximately $35,000 for the nonprofit. That’s music to the ears of people like Zoe James, who benefit from the agency.

“I’m glad someone thought to create a program like this, because there’s a growing number of people that need help every day,” James says. “The fact that we have this program for the people who need it most just shows that the world can change.” Hers certainly did.

greeNest’s Holiday Pop-Up Shop
November 15-December 24
694 Hanes Mall Boulevard, Suite 684
Winston-Salem, NC 27103
(336) 661-8091
greenestws.org