Home

This journey with Humble has [music] made me think a lot about the concept of home. And I've come to believe that home is [music] a place that's safe. It's a place that you want to come back to every day and a place that you want to raise your [music] children. It really becomes your sanctuary from a hectic and sometimes cruel world. If you're very [music] lucky, someday home is where you'll be surrounded by your loved ones when you take your last breath. It's a place where you find all your joy, your happy moments, your [music] sad moments, your together moments, your planning moments. Home is not just a place to exist, but it's a place to live and [music] thrive. And in San Diego, there are close to 9,000 people who do not have that home. They're just like you and [music] I and they don't have that safe place to call a home. My name is Treger Strasberg. I am the founder of Humble Design. I have been at it for 11 oh 12 years. Yeah, 12 years. So, our origin story is how I changed my vision on homelessness. I moved to Detroit and I became friends with a woman and we would go out for coffee and one day we were going out for coffee and she was not doing any of the talking which is unusual. I said, "Krista, what what's going on?" And she said, "Well, my children and I spent the night in the homeless shelter last night and we didn't get much sleep." And immediately I thought, "Oh, she's volunteering or she's, you know, there with her kids for our service project." And it took me a minute to realize that she was homeless. Empathy turned into action in that moment. I was not going to let my friend be homeless. Like that seemed unfathomable to me. So my husband and my friends and I, we got together and tried to find her a home that she could afford. [music] And once we found her out of the home, I remember picking her up and driving her. And I got there and it never dawned on me that everything that she had ever owned, everything that she had ever collected, anything [music] that was passed down in her family was put to the curb when she couldn't afford the $25 rent [music] hike from her last place. They moved in with two bags of clothing, one for her and one [music] for her kids, and that was it. Everything else in her entire world was thrown away. And what I realized was is that we're all just [music] one paycheck away. and the person you're sitting across from, they could be homeless. I think the most important [music] thing about is understanding what homelessness is. You know that it is mostly moms and kids who have had a really bad year and are looking to start over. Humble is filling that one puzzle piece. Everybody [music] wants to get people housed. Get them housed. Get them housed. And that's the greatest thing. But if they don't stay housed, [music] that's not great. The social workers are disheartened. they see the same families and then generations of families coming back [music] through uh the system. When we talk about ending that cycle, we need to invest in things that truly stop that cycle from happening. I don't know if you've ever heard of Masle's hierarchy of needs. You know, it goes food and shelter and it just flips it all upside down. Before we address those very real needs, we need to address the fact that people are [music] suffering and you can't ignore that anymore. We're looking at solutions that are [music] not just band-aids. We're looking at solutions that are long-term systemic change. Humble Design is [music] a perfect example of that. If you look at the national statistic right now, the families who go back into homelessness within 12 months hovers around 50%. 98 to 99% of our [music] families after one year are in the same house that we furnished. They really care. They don't just come here to just do it to say, "Oh, I decorated a house." They really [music] take time. I gave them an idea of the type of woman I was and how I wanted my home to feel. And they took it and made it exactly the way we wanted it. We appreciate it. We love it. And it's still the same way. Everything that they put in here is the same way. You guys love it. Yeah. Yeah. Trust and believe in them. And if [music] you get a chance to deal with Humble Design, get with them. They the real deal. We are still doing each house with such love and tenderness and care like we did with my first friend that every one of our clients feels like my first client. [music] My name is Mariah. I am a medical uh assistant. Um I've lived here for about a year. I have four children altogether. I'm [music] in recovery as well. I came across Humble Design through my case manager through the Alpha Project. She [music] introduced me to their website. I didn't know how much they really impact people's lives and how they do so much good for people. I just want to [music] say I'm so proud of this mom to get where she's at from this struggle, taking the right steps, getting help, overcoming it, getting her education. Now [music] stability comes in and this one will grow up in a more stable environment and he knows where they're going to go. Hands in [music] humble on the ring. 1 2 3. [music] It was tough. It was really tough raising children in a shelter. We're confined to [music] a small bedroom. Very looking forward to having a living space. My kids having their own room. They're very excited for their own room. Me having my own room, the living room, a place [music] to gather, have family, and just have a home. [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] It's [music]