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 estee@humbledesign.org.
"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: publicrelations@uhaul.com
Phone: 602-760-4941
Website: uhaul.com
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SOURCE Humble Design