Founded in 2025, The Serene Space was birthed from an idea to combine a deep love for modern, stunning home design and working in healthcare to create an elegant housing solution for medical professionals during their travel assignments in California’s Central Valley.
Melissa Mulengwa, our Owner & Founder, is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and she was deeply inspired by her mother and father to create an elegant housing solution for travel medical professionals that encompasses her passion for working in healthcare, her admiration for the hard work and dedication of medical professionals, and her love for creating beautiful, elegant living spaces.
Shortly after immigrating with their young children to Oakland, California (from Uvira, DRC) in 2000, Melissa’s mother and father began working as Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) at a local nursing home for about four years. During her early childhood, Melissa remembers watching her parents work tirelessly to care for their patients during long day and night shifts (while also raising their young children, going to college, and adjusting to life in a new country). Her parents’ strong work ethic, dedication for providing the best care for their patients, and constant encouragement for higher education for their children propelled Melissa to grow in her passion for health + healthcare, and to pursue a background in healthcare, as well.
Melissa’s passion for health + healthcare led her to earning a B.A. in Public Health Policy (and a minor in Medical Anthropology) from the University of California, Irvine. While earning her MBA at San Francisco State University, Melissa also worked at a women’s health center in San Francisco that was centered on providing integrative and holistic health services to women and couples who were trying to conceive, pregnant women, and women who were postpartum. The Serene Space is an homage to Melissa’s mother and father, and to all medical professionals who dedicate their lives to caring for the health and lives of others.
