Huntington Park business gets creative, builds space-saving desks for students doing distance learning in tight quarters

HUNTINGTON PARK, Calif. (KABC) -- With students learning from home, there was a rush to buy desks. But many families can't afford them, or they simply don't have the space in their home for a full remote learning setup.

That's where Hood Renovationz in Huntington Park comes in. It's wood and nails and a lot of work, but one small desk can change people's lives.

Daisy Figueroa is now a law student at Boston University. She remembers growing up with her family of five all sleeping in one room. She recently renovated her parent's room and put it on Instagram. She got thousands of responses.

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"We had a lot of people saying, 'Hey, that was us or like hey, that was me'. And we realized it was of much more interest, and there was a much bigger need than we initially thought," said Figueroa.

She and her friends started Hood Renovationz. The idea is to build innovative space-saving desks. With the pandemic, Figueroa knows many families are struggling to give students adequate space for schooling.

"They look like bookcases once they're not in use, but it creates sort of a space for students to work in, which I think is very needed," said Figueroa.

They got hundreds of requests for their desks. They picked 10 to build for free. The first home where one of the desks was installed was in Montebello.

Joscelyn Paniagua is a freshman at Cal State Long Beach studying criminology. She says it's been difficult but now she has space to learn.

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"It even comes with a light and we just have one bedroom for my mom, and so that's going to help because sometime she complains how I don't turn off the light, but I'm doing homework, so we're gonna be able to turn off the light from the room and I'll leave a little light on so I can still do my homework," said Paniagua.

Hood Renovationz wants to do more. They set up a GoFundMe page and people all over the country want to help.

"A lot of people donated and even without us asking, were giving us stuff and donate money and even tools and, and we're like, you know, we want to find more projects to do," said Joseph Rios of Hood Renovationz.

"Our goal would be to do as many as we possibly can. Even now with like 10 desks giveaway, we know that's like a drop in the bucket," said Francisco Millar of Hood Renovationz.

A drop at a time, and a desk at a time, to help students thrive.

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