BedBug Free Furnishings Treats for Bed Bugs in Low-Income Communities

Editor's note: This article originally appeared in the December print version of PCT under the headline "On the Second Hand."

Bed bug infestations disproportionately affect low-income communities — the very same people that struggle financially to properly take care of an infestation. Raymond VanderLouw, a veteran pest management professional and associate certified entomologist (A.C.E.), recognized this within his community and started a nonprofit to work at remedying this problem.

BedBug Free Furnishings, also known as BFF, is the nonprofit created by VanderLouw based in Spokane, Wash. It has been in business for more than five years.

“I’m an associate certified entomologist, and I believe in their creed. You’ve got to use your time and talents and energy and efforts and knowledge to give back to the community as much as you can. I live that through BFF,” VanderLouw said.

VanderLouw has worked in the pest management industry for more than 25 years, and most of his pest control experience has been working in low-income communities, multi-family housing and various shelters. VanderLouw said he has dealt with a lot of bed bugs in these locations, and many times, the pests come into accounts via furniture purchased secondhand off Craigslist, Facebook or at thrift stores.

“I always felt like if there was an option and we could potentially change the human behaviors that got bed bugs into houses in the first place, maybe we could change the culture [around bed bugs],” he said.

When he set out to establish this nonprofit, VanderLouw helped set up a community meeting where he asked for volunteers to help. Some of these volunteers later ended up becoming board members of BFF. Currently, there are 12 people on the board at BFF, all of whom are non-paid volunteers.

To make sure furniture is completely bed bug-free, the team at BFF first visually inspects furniture, though this method is not always 100 percent accurate. They built a large heat chamber that treats furniture at above 140 degrees Fahrenheit for 6-8 hours to kill all bed bug life stages. They load furniture into one end of the chamber, heat everything in the box, and then push the heated furniture out into the warehouse, which is their “clean” side.

“Nothing came into the building that wasn’t heat-treated previously, and no donation went into the warehouse without being heat-treated,” VanderLouw said.

After finding success providing bed bug-free furniture to the community, BFF started working with social service agencies and housing stabilization specialists to reach people in transition and provide them with clean, affordable items.

“I started working with a number of social workers, where they would tell me, look, we just moved a single mother with two kids into a two-bedroom apartment, and we put together a furniture package for that,” VanderLouw said. “So now somebody gets an apartment, and they get quality used furniture that’s bed bug free in their apartment when they arrive.”

These community agencies paid BFF for these services, which has helped fund the business.

“I have not taken one dollar or dime from this,” VanderLouw said. “I believe that to be charitable, it comes from the heart. I would never expect anything from this. I feel like this has been my gift to the city of Spokane, the city that has been so good to me.”

The team at BFF also helps people themselves. BFF works with social service groups that are bringing people out of incarceration homelessness and provide them with temporary housing. As part of their housing, they volunteer hours in the community, and they often volunteer at BFF by moving furniture, loading trucks, and making pickups and deliveries. In return, BFF contributes to their scholarship fund, which helps pay for their first month’s rent.

This program has since helped thousands of people get back on their feet on both sides of the business.

“It changes somebody’s heart when they see a mom fleeing domestic violence, and then you get to help that person out,” VanderLouw said. “I feel like it’s really helped in a lot of different facets of life.”

Since starting BFF, success has followed VanderLouw back to his for-profit pest control work.

“The unintended consequences of this, it wasn’t something that I was looking for, but just kind of by default, I have become a renowned bed bug expert in our area,” he said.

If people have questions about bed bugs, they go to him. VanderLouw also works with the local health district, answering questions such as what trends he’s seeing and about bed bugs in certain areas.

“Quite unintended, you become the expert, and people, because of the nonprofit, want to work with you on the for-profit side, because they know what you’re doing,” he said.

VanderLouw’s future plans for BFF are to find a replacement to take over the day-to-day operation of the nonprofit.

“It has been a labor of love, and a labor of love doesn’t always pay the mortgage,” he said. “That is my goal, and it has been my goal since I started. I wanted to build something, make sure that it ran really well, make sure that it’s serving people at a high level, and then potentially bow out.”

VanderLouw encourages anyone who may be interested in bringing the concept of BFF to their neighborhood or city to build on his idea.

“I think it’s a very, very valuable service, and if anybody is looking to potentially start this program in their community, I would be super happy to help out,” VanderLouw said.

The author is a contributor to PCT.