International Rescue Committee
Dining Table Program

Recognizing the power of the proverbial kitchen table as the central building block of any home. Leading the Project H San Francisco team, a collaboration was established with the International Rescue Committee to design kitchen tables from donated re-purposed products (donated by St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda) that will enable refugee families to gather and assimilate in their new communities, utilizing the kitchen table as the center of their homes. The IRC supports newly arrived international refugees by providing immediate aid, including food and housing. Roughly 15 refugee families are assigned to the Bay Area a month from Eritrea, Sudan, Bhutan, Burma, Nepal and Iraq. Kitchen tables are in high demand for underserved communities in this program. To help reduce this demand, Project H launched a pilot project aimed at designing, building, and delivering to that need. After a successful pilot, to help further the efforts of the IRC, the San Francisco team of Project H partnered with students of the Design Ignites Change (DIC) program, sponsored by the Academy of Art University (AAU), which stresses the importance of socially relevant design via high school and higher education institutions. DIC students interviewed individual families to better understand their needs and design tables from donated re-purposed materials - allowing students to work with the refugees on both local and global planes to understand the hurdles that those living in uncertainty experience at all times. In all, approximately four dozen families received new kitchen tables through the joint effort. Collaborative project leading Project H Design, with the International Rescue Committee, the Academy of Art University, and Design Ignites Change. Photos courtesy of Project H Design.