“The cost of furnishing an apartment is heavy. More importantly, there aren’t networks that these people can tap into,” Said Julie Dickenson of Humble Designs. “There’s no grandmother with an extra bed. But we know those networks are out there.”
Housing is an integral part of ensuring the safety, health, and economic opportunity necessary to thrive. Across Heartland Alliance, we have dedicated entire teams to ensuring that the most vulnerable among us can find the safety and security of a place to call home.
But a home is so much more than four walls. When the people we serve receive that set of keys, it’s just the first step to building a space of their own.
That’s where our partners at Humble Design come in.
“A lot of the time, the people we support get their new appartments and have maybe a mattress or a couch,” said Ryan Spangler, Heartland Alliance Health outreach professional. “Julie and Humble Design really help these people feel welcome and at home.”
With a 40,000 square foot warehouse in Chicago, the team at Humble Design work directly with the people we serve to understand the specifics of their personality and fashion. After a handful of consultations, the teams help our newly housed participants live in a space that reflects who they are – making it that much easier to acclimate to their new lives.
“Just getting housed is only a first step,” said Julie. “But if you can’t make it a home, it’s that much easier to fall back into homelessness. We work with professional designers to do just that.”
That support helps people stay housed. These newly furnished spaces make it so people don’t have to worry about paying for their furnishings, and helps them build better relationships with landlords and their own networks.
We want these homes to feel like a healing space. We want these people to dream a little bit when it comes to designing these homes.
The organization served their first Chicago family in 2018, has now served close to 430 apartments so far. Fifty or 60 of those are Heartland Alliance participants. Together, our teams are work together to end homelessness in a way that places the interests, hopes, and ideas of our participants first.
“Ryan’s work is really challenging, many of the people he serves haven’t had a home in years,” Julie said. “We’re proud to help support those people find their homes and making them feel like home.”