For families leaving homelessness behind, a house or an apartment is much more than four walls. It represents the beginning of a new chapter, one filled with stability and upward momentum that will hopefully characterize the rest of their lives. Nonprofit organization Humble Design San Diego helps take that a step further by furnishing that new space and filling it with personal touches that can add a sense of security and belonging.
As of mid-October, Humble Design San Diego has furnished 712 local homes and served 1,933 San Diegans, more than 1,000 of them children.
The nonprofit is part of a nationwide organization that was founded in 2009. Founder Tregar Strasberg, who grew up in El Cajon, had moved to Detroit (where the organization is headquartered) and began collecting furniture to help a friend exiting homelessness. The experience illuminated a gap in support for those leaving shelters. The San Diego chapter launched in 2018, though its beginnings were anything but conventional, explains Laura Lavoie, executive director of Humble Design San Diego.
“We started in San Diego as a TV show called Welcome Home,” she says. “When Humble Design came from Detroit to San Diego, they shot a bunch of episodes in Detroit and a bunch of episodes in San Diego that were basically like Extreme Home Makeover only real and better.”
Photo Credit: SDM Staff
Though the show didn’t last, the organization grew, initially furnishing one San Diego home per week and to up to four today. It’s made possible by generous San Diegans who have donated gently used home furnishings and homegoods, which are stored in the nonprofit’s 15,000-square foot Barrio Logan warehouse, and those who have volunteered their time to haul furniture and decorate spaces for a great cause.
“Everything is given to us predominantly by people, neighbors, individuals who have heard about our mission and want their belongings to have a beautiful next chapter,” Lavoie says.
Not only does Humble Design’s work help people in the short term, it also leads to long-term success. In 2024, the organization commissioned a UC San Diego study that explored the transformational effect of home-design interventions. Researchers found that Humble Design San Diego clients had significantly higher rates of housing retention than others who had recently exited homelessness. Nearly 98% of clients surveyed remained in their homes.
Photo Credit: SDM Staff
“[It’s] not only the product of having a home and all of the things that the rest of us take for granted in life—we all woke up in beds this morning, right?—but also the process of being treated with dignity and respect, and being shown that they’re beautiful people and [worth] having the community show up … after a very long time of being treated like a number in a system or a problem that needs solving,” says Lavoie.
Researchers recommend that Humble Design scale up to help more people. Lavoie says the organization gets referrals from more than 75 social services agencies from the border up to Oceanside, so the need is definitely there. However, there are limitations.
“Like most nonprofits, our biggest challenge is funding,” she says.
To help, follow Humble Design San Diego on social media and read about its clients and mission, make a monetary donation or donate gently used homegoods (an appointment is required), volunteer to help out in the warehouse or onsite, or attend one of the nonprofit’s events. For instance, Humble Design San Diego and the Monarch School teamed up for an art and community, Bridging Barrios, on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego November 12 through 15.
“Whichever door you want to walk in is the right door, and you’re going to find somebody whose heart doesn’t quite fit in their chest to welcome you in,” Lavoie says. “That’s how we grow.”
Sarah Sapeda is San Diego Magazine’s Custom Content Editor. In her 15 years in San Diego journalism, she has covered charitable events, health care, education, crime, current events, and more.
