Humble Design Celebrates 1 Year of Helping San Diegans Emerge from Homelessness

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Humble Design is marking its one-year anniversary of bringing dignity and honor to the formerly homeless in San Diego with a grand-opening event to celebrate its new operating space.

U-Haul, a national partner of Humble Design, has gifted a warehouse at the back of its National City facility to provide the nonprofit with a larger storage and working area.

The event will be held from 4-6 p.m. on Aug. 29 at 1300 Wilson Ave. in National City. Media and community members are encouraged to attend.

Humble Design coordinates with local shelters to identify families and veterans striving to emerge from homelessness, and then provides the talents of volunteer designers with furnishings donated by the community to turn empty houses into clean, dignified and welcoming homes.

The charity was founded in 2009 in Detroit. It has since expanded to Chicago, Seattle and San Diego, arriving in America's Finest City last summer. Humble Design San Diego has serviced nearly 50 homes to date, helping change the lives of 132 people – a group that includes 27 single parents, nine foster children and six military veterans.

"Getting the warehouse to store home furnishings has really been pivotal to our success," Humble Design San Diego Director Estee Alias said. "U-Haul had donated a space of about 1,500 square feet. But there was a separate building at the back of the National City property that's 6,000-7,000 square feet and was being used to store supplies. U-Haul said, 'Let's make that your warehouse, too,' and donated it about three months ago."

Humble Design CEOs Treger and Rob Strasberg, public officials, local sponsors, volunteers, U-Haul representatives and some families that received services will be in attendance on Aug. 29. There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony, facility tours and food available.

Just how effective is the Humble Design blueprint? Up to half of all families that leave shelters return to homelessness within one year. But only 1% of Humble Design-serviced families return to shelters in that same time.

About 1,270 families have received Humble Design's services since 2009. U-Haul partnered with Humble Design in 2016 to aid expansion efforts.

"I never could have imagined how an idea to help a friend 10 years ago could turn into an organization that makes such an impact to families and veterans that have experienced homelessness," stated Treger Strasberg, the charity's co-founder. "It started out with one family, one truck, and a community that embraced them."

People wishing to donate home furnishings (drop-offs are by appointment), learn about individual, group or corporate volunteer opportunities, make a financial gift, arrange a furniture pick-up or start a donation drive should visit www.humbledesign.org/sandiego or email [email protected].

"Our first year has been nothing short of magical," Alias added. "Starting with filming seven episodes for 'Welcome Home' on The CW, to receiving the donated warehouse space, there has not been a dull moment. We're lucky the San Diego community quickly fell in love with our mission to furnish hope for the recently homeless and helped us grow exponentially.

"The most inspiring part has been seeing the community, staff, volunteers and donors work so well together to reduce homelessness in San Diego. Nothing is more humbling than our Deco Day Fridays – furnishing the homes within four hours and meeting the families whose lives are forever impacted."

About Humble Design

Humble Design is a nonprofit that helps families transitioning out of homeless shelters by providing furnishings and design services. The organization turns empty houses into clean, dignified and welcoming homes — a very simple idea that can change a family's future. Founded in 2009, the organization primarily serves single parents with children and veteran families. Humble Design has served nearly 1,270 families nationally through its chapters in Detroit, Chicago, Seattle and San Diego.

About U-Haul

Since 1945, U-Haul has been the No. 1 choice of do-it-yourself movers, with a network of 22,000 locations across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. U-Haul Truck Share 24/7 offers secure access to U-Haul trucks every hour of every day through the customer dispatch option on their smartphones and our proprietary Live Verify technology. Our customers' patronage has enabled the U-Haul fleet to grow to approximately 167,000 trucks, 120,000 trailers and 43,000 towing devices. U-Haul offers nearly 697,000 rooms and 60.7 million square feet of self-storage space at owned and managed facilities throughout North America. U-Haul is the largest installer of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket industry, and is the largest retailer of propane in the U.S.

Contact:
Jeff Lockridge
Sebastien Reyes
E-mail: [email protected]  
Phone: 602-760-4941
Website: uhaul.com

SOURCE Humble Design

Related Links

https://www.humbledesign.org