The 10-person Design Response team planned out the space of the new facility, offered mechanical and electrical assistance, painted walls and offered donated furniture from local companies.

"They helped us tremendously. We got new cubicles, and they made our space look really nice," says Marsha Yankelitis, Silicon Valley regional administrative manager of the American Cancer Society.

On Sept. 5, Design Response celebrated a decade of servicing nonprofit and educational organizations that help children, adults and families in Santa Clara, San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties.

In addition to the three paid staff members, hundreds of volunteer interior designers, architects, space planners, artists, craftsmen and students of interior design have contributed their time and talents to complete projects with Design Response.

Alys Milner, who has served on the Design Response board for eight years, says everyone gets something out of their involvement with Design Response.

"Design students from West Valley College get an internship with the opportunity to work with professional designers, and they get to build portfolios. Designers get future business, and companies get the good feeling of giving to nonprofits," Milner says. "It is amazing, after 10 years, the reputation we have and the number of connections we've made."

So far more than 100 Silicon Valley facilities have been enhanced by Design Response teams, including such Campbell-based organizations as Kids Are Special and Campbell Healthy Start, as well as the Campbell chapter of the American Cancer Society.

The largest and most recent project, which was finished this month, was an upgrade of two classroom wings and the central courtyard for the Palo Alto campus of Achievekids, an organization that assists children with social, emotional and behavioral difficulties.

Because of volunteer services, grants and donations, the $800,000 project cost Achievekids less than $200,000.

The executive director of Design Response, Jayne Booker Dies, says improving a facility is something a nonprofit often cannot afford, yet an efficiently planned space is important because it makes people feel welcome.

"People coming to these facilities are often the overlooked in society, such as the poor and homeless," Dies says. "They have many problems to overcome, and to go into drab, dingy facilities makes them feel worse. Design Response's assistance increases their sense of dignity and self-respect."