2011 Year In Review
photos by Amanda Woods, Our House VISTA, except pg 4 from the Our House photo archive Š Amanda Woods/Our House 2009, 2010, 2011
Over the past 25 years, Our House has opened its doors to thousands of families who needed a home, hope, and a chance to turn their lives around. In helping these families build a better life, Our House has strengthened its own foundation as a high-performing nonprofit organization. Upon this strong foundation, we are building a plan to deepen our impact and change the lives of thousands more families over the next 25 years.
An Urgent Need A Home For Hundreds A One-Of-A-Kind Approach Proven Results Ongoing Innovation Public Recognition Community Support Donors In-Kind Donors Meal Servers Volunteers Partners AmeriCorps Board Of Directors The Next 25 Years: Capital Campaign Overview
Our House was founded in 1987 when a group of concerned citizens responded to a clear need in Central Arkansas: the need for a program to help homeless families find a way back to independence. Over the past 25 years, that need has remained strong, and in recent years it has grown considerably, as the economic downturn has pushed more families into homelessness.
All data from National Center on Family Homelessness
Our House began as a 40-bed shelter in downtown Little Rock. Over the years, Our House has expanded to meet the growing need in the community. In 1991, we opened the 13-unit Family Housing program on the campus of the old VA hospital in south Little Rock. In 2005, we constructed a new, 80-bed shelter at the same site, consolidating all of our programs in one location. In 2010, the Family Housing facilities were substantially renovated.
While our expectations are high, the support we provide to residents is deep. Our goal is to work with the whole family to help them build the skills, resources, and confidence they will need to succeed on their own. Our House’s comprehensive model has been replicated in 39 other states across the country. The keystone requirements of our program have remained unchanged since 1987. All adults must
Our House’s clear, measurable success in our core mission of changing the lives of homeless families sets us apart from other homeless providers. In 2011:
We are constantly improving our programs and adding new services to meet the evolving needs of our clients and to make a deeper impact on their lives.
Practice job interviews Bicycle lending program Yoga for teens Golf for kids Legal education classes Three new full-time AmeriCorps volunteers Monthly newsletter
Health improvement initiative (sponsored by Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas and the Arkansas Community Health & Education Foundation) Alumni group for former residents Community outreach initiative New parenting education programs Groundbreaking for new children’s center (see pages 30 to 36)
Our success in transforming the lives of homeless families has been recognized locally, regionally, and nationally, including recognition by two U.S. Presidents.
Voted by readers of the Arkansas Times
Our Executive Director, Georgia Mjartan, was named Nonprofit Executive of the Year in 2011 by Arkansas Business
Combined Federal Campaign Agency # 97175
United Way Member Agency
In 1987, Our House was founded as a collaborative effort of the Arkansas Interfaith Conference, the United Way of Pulaski County, and many more groups and individuals. Over the years this initial spirit of cooperation and community engagement has blossomed and grown far beyond what those initial founders could have imagined. Today, nothing we do would be possible without the tremendous support we receive from thousands of individuals, corporations, and agencies from all across central Arkansas and beyond. The following pages include highlights of the inspiring support Our House has received from the community for our most recent fiscal year: July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2011.
Includes gifts received between July 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011.
Arkansas Department of Workforce Services City of Little Rock Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Windgate Charitable Foundation
Anonymous Donor Arkansas Attorney General Arkansas Department of Human Services Patsy Booth Revocable Trust Dollar General Literacy Foundation Charles A. Frueauff Foundation Barbara Graves & Barry McDaniel Little Rock School District My Favorite Thrift Store Chester Phillips Pulaski County Second Presbyterian Church Roy & Christine Sturgis Charitable & Educational Trust Summer Foundation United Way UPS Vestcom
Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance Brunhilde & Tom Blackmon Susan & Nick Brown Christ the King Catholic Church Delta Dental of Arkansas Marilyn & Bo Eagan Entergy Mary & Andrew Hiegel Robyn & John Horn IberiaBank Our Lady of the Holy Souls Catholic Church Southwest Power Pool Stephens Inc. Summit Bank TJX Foundation
4Art Sake AIG of Arkadelphia, Inc. Anonymous Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Arkansas Democrat-Gazette AT&T Bailey Foundation Bank of the Ozarks Baptist Health Christie & Steve Bardwell Debi Barnes Ben E. Keith Kirk Bradshaw Cathedral of St. Andrew CDI Contractors, LLC Church of the Immaculate Conception Corvette Club Beth & Mike Coulson Dillard’s
East-Harding, Inc. Karen & John Flake Stephanie & Jeff Fox Jennifer & Clay Glasgow Goff Distribution, Inc. Mary Good Rick Gregory Linda & Stephen Grimm Habibi Oriental Rug Company Chris Harkins Janet & Gregory Hartz Ashley & Chris Haynes Hosto, Buchan, Prater, & Lawrence, PLLC Annabelle C. Imber & Henry Tuck Kayla Jimmerson JPMS Cox, PLLC Kevin Kordsmeier Vicki & Thomas Kovaleski Law Office of Danyelle Walker, PLLC
Marriott Wealth Advisors Mendel Capital Management, Inc. Marsha & Ronald Meyers Peter Miller Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates, & Woodyard, PLLC Gayle & Harry Morton Betsy & John Murray Ottenheimer Brothers Foundation PDC Construction James A. Penney III Martha & H. Rance Perkins Christie & Ted Pinney Luke Ramsey Sherwood Beverage Sol Alman Company Sue Carol & Mike South St. James United Methodist Church St. Michael’s Episcopal Church Robyn & Jason Stewart
UALR Student Committee Fund Dorothy & R.F. Toll Bridget & Andrew Upchurch US Bank USAble Life VCC, LLC Jana & Chris Villemez Walmart Kathy Wells Christopher Wewers C. Michael White Robert M. Winter Daniel Wren Wright, Lindsey, & Jennings, LLP
Thanks to the generosity of hundreds of individuals and groups, Our House has built a diverse funding base which has enabled us not only to survive but to grow during the recent economic downturn.
county grants 2%
city grants 5%
earned income 11%
state grants 14%
federal grants 18%
private foundations 22%
donations 14%
fundraising events 14%
housing programs 54%
children’s programs 28.4%
learning center 9.5%
fundraising & administration 4.8%
In-kind donations of goods and services help us keep our costs down and extend our ability to serve our clients. Through the amazing generosity of donors, we are able to feed our residents 77,000 meals each year, provide holiday presents for all of our residents, offer diapers and other needed supplies for all the parents of young children we serve, and much more.
Jan Alman Amanda & Steve Chason Madalyn Dortch Connie Fails Barbara Graves Isabel & Hamid Habibi Lance Hines Andrea Moses Sandy Sanders Robyn Stewart
Citadel Communications CoreSource Custom XM Faith Lutheran Church Glazer’s Distributors of Arkansas J.Jill Little Rock Marathon Microsoft Metropolitan National Bank Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Nicholson Agency Office of Representative Vic Snyder RedStone Construction Group Starbucks Coffee VSP Mobile Eye Clinic
benefitting Our House Our House also benefits from in-kind donations to My Favorite Thrift Store, which has two locations in Central Arkansas. For donation pickup, call 501-772-5139.
In 1987, members of ten different congregations divided up the task of serving meals at Our House. Today’s meal servers include original groups as well as dozens of other groups committed to feeding the homeless.
Acxiom Altrusa International, Inc., of Little Rock Boulevard Bread Calvary Baptist Church Cathedral of St. Andrew Christ Lutheran Church Christ Temple Cathedral Christ the King Catholic Church Faith Lutheran Church Faith United Church of Christ First United Methodist Church of Maumelle Greater Second Baptist Church Highland Valley United Methodist Church Immanuel Baptist Church Jan Alman and Friends Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church Our Lady of Good Counsel Our Lady of the Holy Souls Catholic Church Payless Shoe Source #3777 Pleasant Valley Church of Christ Singles Group Pulaski Heights Baptist Church Second Presbyterian Church
Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church St. Andrews Church St. James United Methodist Church St. John Baptist Church St. Mark Baptist Church St. Michael's Episcopal Church Summit Church Temple B’nai Israel Trinity United Methodist Church Unitarian Universalist Church of LR Upper Room Apostolic Church
Allison Dowden Dianne & Mike Hocut Janet Hedges Grace Temple Greater Archview Baptist Church Pershing United Pentecostal Church Somer’s Avenue Church of Christ Summit Church Home School Group Womenade
*
Shayna Fendley Judi Fess Genevieve Girard Jazzy Jackson Becky Lively Jan Mayes Sean Morell Sandy Sanders Celeste Thornton Jonathan Watford
Arkansas Baptist City Year Little Rock Christian Academy Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Philander Smith College UALR Children International UALR’s The Big Event UAMS College of Public Health UCA Honors College UPS
*based on number of hours served
Our House partners with more than 150 outside organizations to broaden and deepen our services to our clients.
Provides parent-child reading & literacy activities
Provides free speech & occupational therapy to our children
Provides full-time volunteers
Provides full-time state-licensed teachers for our adult Learning Center
Provides medical & dental services
Provides & repairs bicycles for adults & children.
Provides money management courses
Provides nutrition education courses
Provides mental health counseling & treatment
Helps adult clients apply for & succeed in college
The original staff of Our House included AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America) members who helped get the organization up and running. In recent years we have renewed our partnership with the VISTA program and expanded to include other AmeriCorps volunteers through the Arkansas Service Commission. AmeriCorps volunteers are inspirational people who commit three months, a year, or more of their lives to fighting poverty while themselves living in poverty. These dedicated and passionate individuals have been instrumental in helping us build community support, keep up with rising demand for our services, and improve our programs.
Steve Bardwell, President Founder, Vestcom International, Inc. Clay Glasgow, Vice-President/Treasurer Manager, JPMS Cox, PLLC Joe Marriott, Secretary Partner窶認inancial Advisor, Marriott Beale Wealth Advisors John Fowler, Past President Regional President, Summit Bank Jan Alman, Capital Campaign Co-Chair Community Volunteer Annie Abrams Retired Educator, Volunteer Debi Barnes President, Debi Barnes Consulting, Inc., and Principal of DD&F Consulting Group Kirk Bradshaw Financial Advisor, Edward Jones Investments Susan Brown Community Volunteer
David Choate Attorney, Friday, Eldredge & Clark LLP Karen Flake President, Karen Flake and Associates Lynn Hamilton Vice President of Operations, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Dave Hoffpauir Licensed Master Social Worker, Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System Amanda Hughes Industry Marketer, Acxiom Corporation George Knollmeyer Manager of Administrative Services, Ben E. Keith Foods, Arkansas Division Rusty Mathis General Manager, Ben E. Keith Foods, Arkansas Division
Tom Navin Director, Social Action & Prison Ministry, Catholic Diocese of Little Rock Valerie Pruitt Neighborhood Resource Coordinator, Argenta CDC Chris Schaffhauser Facility Engineering Manager, UPS Mary Shue Manicurist, Caracalla Spa; Our House Alumna Kathy Wells Community Activist, Volunteer C. Michael White Attorney, White Law Firm PLLC Darrin Williams Managing Partner, Carney Williams Bates Bozeman & Pulliam; Arkansas State Representative, District 36
Alan Abston Partner, Rasco, Winter, Abston, Moore, and Associates, LLP Beth Coulson Philanthropist, Volunteer Vicki Kovaleski Artist, Volunteer Bob Holloway President, The Holloway Firm Janell Mason Retired CEO, Volunteer Barry McDaniel Retired Advisor, Morgan Stanley Evelyn Rose Community Activist, Volunteer Jan Scholl Director, North Little Rock Mayor’s Youth Council John Tisdale Partner, Wright, Lindsey, and Jennings, LLC Annabelle Imber Tuck Retired Justice, Arkansas Supreme Court Guy Wade Partner, Friday, Eldridge, and Clark, LLP Bev Wittenberg Volunteer
Our House is inviting donors to join us in making a substantial and thoughtful investment in the lives of the most disadvantaged children in Arkansas. Compared to other children, homeless children are
Among all homeless children
All data from National Center on Family Homelessness
Our House operates the state’s only licensed child care for homeless children and the state’s only out-of-school-time program for homeless youth. These programs serve more than 250 children each year and as many as 90 on any given day. Our children’s programs are currently squeezed, along with our adult education programs, into a 7,000 square foot former ambulance garage. It is a testament to the amount of love and dedication our staff, volunteers, and clients pour into these programs that such an unlikely building feels as warm and comfortable as it does, but we are simply out of space. The need for these programs continues to rise. Over the past year, the number of homeless children living in our shelter increased 47%. We also want to offer our services to children even after they move out, to provide a stable home for them through yet another transition, but many times we are unable due to lack of space.
2010, phase 2 $700,000
Family House rehabilitation
2005, phase 1 $1.4 million
new 80-bed shelter
2014, phase 4 $1.2 million
Adult Learning Center rehabilitation
By the end of 2012, we will break ground on a new children’s center. The children’s center is the largest and most important phase of our ten-year campus master plan. See the back cover for an architectural rendering.
We need your help! This project has the potential to improve tens of thousands of lives over the next 25 years, but it will require the friends of Our House, both old and new, to join together and make an unprecedented investment in the lives of homeless children and families. Please contact us if you want to get involved!
302 East Roosevelt Road Little Rock, Arkansas 72206 Post Office Box 34155 Little Rock, Arkansas 72203 Executive Director Georgia Mjartan 501-374-7383 ext. 201 georgia@ourhouseshelter.org www.ourhouseshelter.org
www.ourhouseshelter.org