Each Tuesday, as part of our Community Changers series, we highlight organizations making Memphis better. This week, we caught up with a group making high priced items much more affordable.

Valeri Branch is one of Oasis of Hope Appliance and Home Furnishing‘s top customers.

“By me losing part of my income-becoming on disability, it really helped me out a lot, Valeri said. “I can come in here and find a couch at a reasonable price like a little over a hundred dollars compared to nine hundred or a thousand.

It’s a nonprofit secondhand store selling furniture, appliances and other home items at a fraction of the cost. We spoke to Dana Driver, their strategic business manager.

“Welcome to Oasis Appliances and Furniture. We’re part of Hope Presbyterian Church and Oasis of Hope Ministries. We’re dedicated to the North Memphis community,” Driver said.

By providing items like washers, stoves and refrigerators at reasonable prices, community members are able to stretch their hard-earned dollars even further.

“There is a huge grocery desert in this area. Well, this is a desert for refurbished appliances and nice furniture that can be sold at a price people can afford in this community,” Driver said.

They even have a sixty-day warranty, will deliver your items for forty dollars and if you need your appliances hooked up, they’ll help you do that too.

Alfred Ward has been their maintenance technician for the last eighteen years. He can fix any appliance in a home.

“A lot of people get upset because they can’t afford stuff. They’ve got kids. If we can help them out, that’s great!” Alfred said. “That’s the reason I try to give the best service that I can. People work hard for their money and that’s how I get my blessings.”

This is why our anonymous donor wanted to give Oasis of Hope Appliance and Home Furnishings a thousand dollars.

Because, when you make items that may be financially out of reach more obtainable, you elevate and improve the quality of neighborhood life.

A true Community Changer.