Articles & Guides
Why do families end up back on the street after they get housing?
TL;DR
Getting keys to a place is not the end of homelessness. In San Diego a quarter of people placed into housing ended up back on the street. Among families whose empty rooms were furnished first, it was 2.3 percent. A UC San Diego study of 169 of those families looked at why.
Becoming rehoused is not necessarily the finish line. A family can move out of a shelter with keys and a lease, into four empty rooms, and still lose the place within the year.
In San Diego, a quarter of people placed into housing ended up back in homelessness. Among families whose empty rooms were furnished and made into a home instead of just a place to stay, it was 2.3 percent.
Why does an empty home push a family back out?
Because an empty apartment is somewhere you sleep, not somewhere you live. The children are on the floor. There is no table to sit and eat or study, and nothing to cook with, so meals come from whatever is close and cheap. Nothing in the place belongs to the family or houses anything that makes it theirs.
What changed for families who got furniture
Researchers at UC San Diego surveyed 169 families who had been through it, and interviewed 30 of them at greater length between October 2023 and June 2024.
Of those families, 97.7 percent were still in their housing. The return-to-homelessness rate was 2.3 percent, against 25 percent for other San Diegans placed into housing over the same stretch.
The rest of what they found is the part that explains it. 86.1 percent said they had a greater sense of self worth. 79.6 percent said they felt more in control of their lives. Among parents, 88.4 percent said their children felt more secure, and 73.6 percent said their kids had started bringing friends home.
Children who are ashamed of where they live do not invite anyone over.
But when their places were furnished, moms had kitchens they could cook real food. And children had desk to study and beds to get a good nights sleep in. A place they could be proud of and call home.
Humble Design is a nonprofit that furnishes many of those homes.
What you can do about it
Furniture banks take donations of the things that make a house work, and they will usually collect. Beds, tables, chairs, kitchen equipment and linens run short first. If you are replacing something rather than throwing it out, that is the moment to call one.
Humble Design operates in San Diego, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland and Seattle. The Furniture Bank Network can point you to the nearest one anywhere else. Both take volunteers as well, and moving day is when they need the most hands.
Our film Home follows one San Diego family through the day their empty house gets furnished. Treger Strasberg started Humble Design after finding out a friend of hers had spent the night in a shelter with her children. We also wrote about what furniture poverty actually is if you would like some background.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people return to homelessness after being housed?
It varies by place and by program. In the period a UC San Diego team studied, 25 percent of San Diegans placed into housing returned to homelessness, while 2.3 percent of families whose homes had been furnished by Humble Design did.
Does furniture really keep families housed?
The UC San Diego evaluation surveyed 169 families who had been through Humble Design and found 97.7 percent still in their housing. Alongside that, 86.1 percent reported a greater sense of self worth and 88.4 percent of parents said their children felt more secure.
What furniture do families leaving homelessness need most?
Beds, a table and chairs, and kitchen equipment, along with linens and towels. These are the things that decide whether a family can sleep, eat together and cook at home rather than buying food out.
How can I donate furniture to a family leaving homelessness?
Contact a furniture bank rather than a general charity shop, because they place items directly with families moving out of homelessness. Humble Design covers San Diego, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland and Seattle, and the Furniture Bank Network lists others across the country. Most will collect from you.