Purposeful Design rebuilds lives as participants build furniture

Purposeful Design started 10 years ago with founder David Palmer’s plans to break down old shipping pallets and turn them into chic urban furniture.

“It seemed at the time like maybe it was a good idea,” Palmer says today.

It wasn’t.

But when the plan changed to using Indiana hardwoods such as maple, elm, ash and walnut to make furniture for homes and businesses, Purposeful Design found its business purpose. The east-side company is about to finish 2024 with more than $2.7 million in sales—up from $1.35 million four years ago. By 2026, the business expects sales to reach $3 million.

Purposeful Design—a registered LLC that lives under the nonprofit Sagamore Institute—just announced a partnership with Indianapolis-based TWG Development to provide tables for the common areas in their buildings. It’s in the process of making $250,000 worth of furniture for the Elanco headquarters under construction downtown. And last summer, it produced $250,000 worth of school desks and cafeteria tables for Covenant Christian High School.

Other large orders have come in from Elevance Health, Hamilton Southeastern Schools and Lebanon Community School Corp. And those Indiana-shaped tables at the airport? They’re the product of a partnership Purposeful Design has with a local fabricator.

“We’re starting to see a lot of traction with people taking us seriously as an actual manufacturer, as an actual business, as a competent supplier,” said Brady Roberts, vice president of sales and marketing. “It took a significant amount of time for us to go into the market and say, ‘Hey, you don’t need to think of us for one conference table or for one side table or for one signature piece. We can be a supplier for a large percentage of your entire project.’”

But while growing sales is an important part of Purposeful Design’s operation, building and selling more furniture is only part of its community purpose. Palmer started the organization in 2013-2014 because, as a member of the Wheeler Mission board and volunteer for more than 10 years, he would hear from the homeless men that they needed work. He didn’t have any solutions in mind, but prayer led him to create Purposeful Design.

“As we’re learning to manufacture furniture, we’re learning how to help folks move from the pits of despair and hopelessness to promise,” he said.

The sign over Purposeful Design’s front door says, “Rebuilding Lives. Building Furniture.” And just inside its 30,000-square-foot building at 1710 Jenkins Ave., near Sherman Drive and East 16th Street, is a sign that says, “At Purposeful Design, our mission is to help re-build the lives of men broken by addiction or homelessness, equip them with valuable work skills and provide the gift of work.”

Today, 16 craftsmen and apprentices who have experienced those circumstances come to work at Purposeful Design to build the furniture—from individual pieces to an order of several thousand. The goal is to increase the number of workers to 25 by 2029.

“We have capacity on the shop floor to put 25 guys out there,” said Chief Operating Officer Brian Schmidt. “The barrier to doing that is customer purchase orders. So, that’s where our emphasis and our focus on sales growth is. It’s not for a financial gain, but to create the work opportunity. We’re really happy with where we are, but we know that there’s more out there.”

Purposeful Design typically hires about 18 men per year. Most, after an apprenticeship, move on to hiring partners such as FedEx, Aramark, construction companies and others that pay a minimum of $16 an hour plus full benefits.

Furniture sales provide 85% of the revenue needed to operate Purposeful Design. The rest comes from grants and charitable gifts that are used to invest in machinery or other needs that make the operation more efficient. Lilly Endowment Inc., for example, gave the company a $4.5 million grant in 2021 to support its outreach efforts.

“There’s a compounding effect to the dollar that is given to Purposeful Design because in a way it’s almost like an investment,” Roberts said.

Every day at 10:15 a.m., work stops at Purposeful Design for 30 minutes or so. The craftsmen and apprentices convene in the breakroom to discuss a Bible verse and talk about things they’re grateful for. “Gratitude is a big part of the culture here,” Schmidt said.

For employees like Dewey Titus, there’s a lot to be grateful for. Titus, who had done “lots and lots of meth” and compiled a “pretty long” rap sheet, had been staying at the Good News Ministries homeless shelter when his counselor there referred him to Purposeful Design. That’s how all the apprenticeships start—with a referral.

Titus’ referral was almost five years ago. Since then, he’s helped open Purposeful Design’s metal shop (he’s the supervisor), has an apartment and has righted his life.

“I’ve never worked at a job like this,” he said. “At every job I’ve ever worked at, it’s always, ‘How much you can do for me?’ It’s all about how much production they can get out of somebody, right? Here, it’s the opposite. They do expect production to be done, but it’s just so much more than that.

“They care about not just financial needs, but physical needs, emotional needs, even spiritual needs,” he said.

In addition to employment, Purposeful Design offers life skills and work-readiness training classes for about 300 people each year through a program called Advance. The participants are referred by community partners.

Roberts said one of his objectives in getting customers and partners interested in Purposeful Design is to get them excited about the mission of using enterprise and business strategies to fight poverty.

“The difficulty,” he said, “is getting someone to take a logical next step of, ‘Oh, they’re a mission organization. They’re probably just a small not-for-profit where they sit around and rub each other’s shoulders and sing “Kumbaya.”’ In reality, we are a fully competent business that’s executing and producing every single day.”

Donnie Fishburn, chief operating officer of Covenant Christian High School, certainly thinks so. He said a donor suggested he look into Purposeful Design when Covenant Christian was looking for new furniture. After he did, the school ordered 350 student desks and 30 cafeteria tables. He’s been pleased with the workmanship, the customer service and, especially, PD’s mission.

“They’re trying to give adults a new opportunity on life through the transformative power of Jesus,” he said. “And we’re trying to do that for students.”

Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion had a similar reaction when it did a case study of Purposeful Design last winter. The study concluded that PD is a model worth emulating.

“Exemplary programs that are designed to help people find quality employment as well as to intentionally help improve their physical, mental and spiritual health are desperately needed,” the study concluded. “Purposeful Design is a rare example of what is needed in jurisdictions throughout the country.”•