Non-profit helping people get back on their feet and make their house a home

By Audrina Sinclair, Edie Kasten

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    CHICAGO, Illinois (WBBM) — Making a house a home. That’s what a Chicago non-profit has done for hundreds of families, all while keeping furniture and home goods out of landfills.

Digs With Dignity has a dual mission of helping people and the planet; using decorations, furniture, and home goods to design and transform spaces, and help people in need get back on their feet.

Their warehouse has about 10,000 square feet of space, filled with donated goods to help provide furnished living spaces for people who were recently homeless.

“It’s definitely a well-oiled machine in the warehouse,” said Digs with Dignity executive director Kim Hannay.

Their team starts with floorplans and wish lists from Chicago families who are moving into a new home after recently being homeless.

“They come to us by way of social service agencies. So those case managers are the ones who are helping them secure the housing,” Hannay said. “Then those case managers refer them to us, we go in and meet them, get to know them and custom design their homes in about a week’s time.”

One recent family they helped was a mom, dad, and two children – ages 1 and 6.

“They’re moving in from a shelter where they have nothing,” Hannay said. “They move in with a couple bags of clothes, they move in with maybe an air mattress.”

Digs With Dignity pulls everything the family needs from their warehouse.

“From big furniture, like beds and dressers, down to knickknacks on shelves, and artwork for your walls, linens for your beds. It’s truly everything that makes a home,” Hannay said.

Then repair and restoration specialist Jan Claiborne makes sure nothing goes to families busted or broken. He’ll sand, paint, repair – making the old new again.

“I fix stuff. That’s what I do. I fix stuff,” he said.

On move-in day, all the furniture and other items Digs With Dignity’s team pulled from the warehouse is moved in and set up while the family stays away for the day, and then comes back to their fully decked-out home.

Digs With Dignity did 47 such moves in 2024, and more than 200 since launching five years ago.

“A lot of these clients have been through similar things that I have. I’ve done been through domestic violence. I’ve done been through homelessness,” said client liaison Okeisha Winston. “I was addicted to drugs since 18 years old, and one day I decided enough was enough. I got tired.”

After going through substance abuse recovery, Winston and her new husband secured a stable apartment in 2021, and Digs With Dignity came in to transform it into a real home.

“I couldn’t believe it. My eyes were so big,” she said. “I wanted to pass out.”

Four years clean and sober, Winston now works at Digs With Dignity as a client liaison.

“My adrenaline gets pumping knowing that I’m doing the same thing what they did for me,” she said. “A bed is one of the most important thing some clients never had, because they had to sleep on the floor. They were sleeping couch to couch.”

Winston said everyone should be able to say, “this is my bed, and I can go to sleep in peace.”

“This work is impacting their lives. This work is helping them move forward. This work is helping them get back on their feet, get a job, retain their housing, retain their employment,” Hannay said.

Even though the warehouse is stocked, Digs With Dignity is always looking for donations – especially pillows, bedding, and lamps. And they always need volunteers to help with design, decorating, and the moves.

Digs With Dignity is currently doing one move every week, but they’re hoping for two per week in 2025.

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