Belleville-area man builds furniture for families in need

A Belleville carpenter is using his furniture making skills to help families who may not be able to afford his custom-made beds.

When Michael Clark separated from his ex-wife, he was looking to start fresh — part of that fresh start included finding furniture for his new home.

Clark is bigger in stature, and he admits he had a hard time finding a bed that would support him.

“I thought, ‘Why do people buy stuff like this? It’s nice to look at but it’s not strong,’” Clark said.

A carpenter by trade, Clark decided to build his own bed frame. However, before he even had the chance to use it, someone he knew saw the finished product and offered to purchase it from him. He agreed to sell it and from there his business, Mike’s Custom Furniture Creations, was born.

The business started to take off, but once in a while people would reached out to hire Clark who couldn’t afford to pay for the beds.

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“If the parents are in a tight spot, why should the child have to suffer?” he asked.

He started to reflect on his own upbringing, and thought he could use his profession to help those in need.

“My family didn’t have much,” Clark said. “My parents tried to give us the best they could.”

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So Clark decided to launch a program to build beds or dressers for families in need.

Ten families have applied to the new program. Clark hopes to build one item of furniture every two weeks to donate to donate to the families.

He’s been called a hero for taking up the project, but says the real heroes are the Belleville-area businesses who are sponsoring his endeavour — Home Depot, Showtime Detailing, Sound Concepts, Tina’s Pizzeria and Bill’s Buy and Sell — each of which have donated a Home Depot gift card to pay for the building materials.

Clark said he delivered the a single bed frame to Taylor Berry and her 3-year-old son Bryceson on Tuesday.

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“Her little guy’s pretty excited.”

He hopes to help more families, but says he needs more sponsors to get involved.

Anyone looking to get involved as either a sponsor or to apply to receive a piece of furniture can email mike@customfurniturecreations.ca