Members of the IIDA-NC Board of Directors met with Mayor Galvin Newsom to offer our interior design talent and resources to the City of San Francisco and make a difference in our community.

As a result of the meeting, our chapter has taken on the renovation of a City owned homeless shelter (Multi Service Center South) which is run by the St Vincent de Paul. The shelter is located at 5th and Bryant.  Our goal is to do an “extreme makeover” for the shelter!

The shelter provides support services, such as a segregated sleeping area for men and women, hot meals, showers, counseling and access to City resources to over 400 people daily.   It is our mission to uplift this institutional looking facility through donations of services, furniture, labor and materials and create a positive change for the less fortunate.

Over 40 IIDA-NC members have volunteered to work on the project.   We have created teams to work on the five areas of the building, which include the reception area, men’s and women’s sleeping area (Women’s World), dining and administrative area.

“It’s meant so much to our clients and staff to have received such attention. The care that the IIDA-NC has taken with our “makeover’ means as much to us, as the beautiful results,” said Lessy Benedith, Executive Director of the Multi Service Center South.

Current Status of the Project:

The IIDA-NC project teams have successfully completed the remodel of the Reception Area, Dining Room, Admin Area and Women's World (women's sleeping area).  Through the generosity of our local community, our teams have been able to rally the support of local contractors, suppliers and artists for this project.
We partnered with Hands On Bay Area to organize a “Painting Day” with employees from Banana Republic and Robert Half International. Our partnership with Philanthropy By Design, gained us a beautiful custom mural for the Dining Room, painted by artist, Jeri Brittell.

In a time, when the economy is weak, we still have the support of the design community and almost 100% of the labor, services and goods have been donated. By the end of the year, we hope to complete the project and finish Phase Five, the Men's Sleeping Area.

Sponsorship to Date:

With the support of many people, our project is a huge success with over $325,000. in donated goods and services.  The IIDA would like to acknowledge the following donors to date:
Teknion • Sidemark  • BCCI  •  GCI  •  Boyd Lighting • Potrero Nuevo Fund • Safeway Foundation • Cisco • A & B Painting • Jeri Brittell • Lowenstein • Skaar Furniture • Philanthropy By Design • Service West • NorCal Moving • USF •  Armstrong • Johnsonite • Calvin Tsao • SFDC • McMillan Electric Co •  ICI Paints • Kelly Moore Paints • Humanscale • Giampolini & Co •  Alpha West • Cutting Edge Drapery • Design Workshops • KMC Plumbing • Koroseal • Merrill H. Steward, Jr. Mission Glass Co •  Monticelli Painting • Integrity Painting • Fairway Painting • McNabb Painting • Contract Office Group • OneWorkplace • Interform • DS Baxley, Inc. •  Welker Bros. • Jerry Thompson • Oracle • William Lea • Interior Motions  Dan Linkhorn • Gensler • Allsteel • Surber Drywall Co. • Staples Inc. • HLW • Commercial Plant Services • Turner Construction • aai • Sherwin Williams • Jennifer Reiley • Principal Builders • Nancy Graham • Coalesse • Maharam • 3 Form • Peter Pepper Products • Sally Wingo • Designtex • Dlugosh Cabinet & Fixtures, Inc. •  Martin Brattrud

Project Teams:

Thank you to the IIDA-NC members who have worked so hard on this project!

Co-Chairs: Susie Jue and Bryant Rice

Reception Area: Kristin Steer, Nathaniel Haynes, Scott Clement, Colleen Kirkland, Jason Wertz, Tamara Roth, Edna Wang, Yvonne Mann, Ming Shen, Elisa Mesch

Dining Room: Jennifer Villalobos, Florette Camarata, Jason Wright, Robert Scarf, Suzanne Drake, Julie Dreschel, Guadalupe Novoa, Sayo Suzuki

Admin Area: Susie Jue, Jeanne Pytel, Kirin Ginn, Kelly Dubisar, Dan Barnard, Dan Linkhorn, Megan McDonnell

Women’s Sleeping Area: Susie Jue, Linda Schanfein, Tama Greenberg, Gail Galli, Kelly Dubisar, Charlotte Stanske

Public Relations:
Article in Jan 2008 issue of California home + design magazine “Gimme Shelter”
“Donor Wall”, potentially a banner outside the building with acknowledgement for our supporters
“Recognition Party” for all the sponsors with Mayor Newsom  
Would like to have an article published ( potentially in the SF Chronicle Sunday paper)
Project submission for IIDA Chapter Award, announced at NeoCon 2009
Donor recognition on IIDA-NC website and all PR media.

For more information on the project please contact committee co-chair Susie Jue, IIDA, LEED AP at susan.jue@safeway.com or 925-467-3232.