Transforming a Boise family’s house into a home

A Boise family that had been living in a local shelter now has a fully furnished home to call their own, thanks in part to the Avenues for Hope campaign and Treger Strasberg, founder of Humble Design.

The woman, who is taking care of her six-year-old grandson, worked with CATCH to find a place to live after being sheltered for months by Interfaith Sanctuary. While they now had a place to live, it was largely empty with just a pair of mattresses and bags of clothes and other belongings.

That’s where Humble Design comes in. The nonprofit organization furnishes the homes of people exiting homelessness in an effort to keep them housed. They worked with volunteers from Idaho Housing and Finance and Micron, as part of this year’s Avenues for Hope campaign, to make sure this empty apartment was transformed into a home.

Since 2009, Humble Design has transformed the lives of more than 8,000 people throughout the country. According to a study published by the National Institutes of Health, 50 percent of families return to homelessness within a year of securing housing. However, less than 1 percent of families helped by Humble Design have returned to the shelter system.