Having decent lounge furniture at the Salvation Army shelter is more than just comfort: It’s a matter of dignity.

Parents now regularly create extra seating in the spartan lounge by dragging bunk bed mattresses in from nearby dormitory-like rooms that might hold two to four families. Their children often use blankets while playing on the tile floor or watching the small, wall-mounted television.

Hence the agency’s request for furniture money from the Three Wishes campaign, sponsored by the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration and the La Crosse Tribune.

“All we have is office-type furniture and a small couch,” said Michelle Caya, house manager for the shelter at 223 N. Eighth St. “It’s really not very family-friendly.”

That’s an understated description of the two-person, stained cloth couch and several mismatched chairs, some torn. The lounge includes a few toys for younger children.

“This is not furniture to use if you want to sit with a kid on your lap and read,” said Julie Nelson, the agency’s development director. “To ask people to sit on the floor doesn’t speak to their dignity. These people don’t have much, but they are human beings.”

The agency would like to buy six beanbag chairs at about $50 apiece for the children and a used couch for less than $400, Nelson said.

Those at the shelter on average stay 33 days, a bit longer for families, Nelson said. It housed 67 residents last week, including six families, and can hold up to 83.

Most of the time, 40 percent of the residents are women and children, Nelson said.

“Overall, this is a time when families are under a lot of stress,” she said. “If we can provide a little comfort for them, the families will feel better.”

Nelson eschewed the myth homeless people don’t have jobs.

“Often, they just don’t make enough for housing,” despite working more than one job, she said.

Working residents are required to save 80 percent of their earnings for a deposit on housing, she said.

In the meantime, Nelson said, “We would like to offer a setting that respects each person’s dignity. We can do better than having people sit on the floor.”