September 2011 by Our House

From Our House To Yours September 2011

302 E Roosevelt Rd; Little Rock, AR

www.ourhouseshelter.org

“As a child who grew up playing in parks, loving to swing,

excited by the thrill of climbing high, I knew the power a playground could have. But that didn‘t change our reality. We were a homeless shelter with barely enough money to feed our residents.

A new playground seemed out of the question.”

12 On the 5th anniversary

of Our House‘s playground, Executive Director Georgia Mjartan details in an extended article the history of the playground and the impact it has had on over 1,000 Our House kids.

The Habibis: top donors

Meet our newest board members

Family Housing program success story: Melissa‘s family

August thanks: Clinton School, Central High School, Paul Mitchell School, and school uniform donors

August donors

All photos by Amanda Woods, an Our House VISTA, except: pg 14 by Georgia Mjartan; pg 19 from the Habibi family; pg 24 top by Callie Denne, Our House VISTA; pg 24 bottom by Clinton School

Sharon Yates eagerly shares her story and her gratitude in this extended article about a woman who had it all, lost it all, and got back what really mattered.

“ You don’t come to Our House to lie down. You get to work.”

By Ganelle Grimm, Development Coordinator Sharon has been a resident of Our House for two years. She is in the process of moving out of the Family House and into her own permanent home. Remarkably, Sharon has also been an Our House donor for the last eight months. She has been donating $20 each month, a portion of the earnings from an entrepreneurial venture she began while living here. Her story is one that inspires courage and generosity in the hearts of all those who are willing to hear it. Born in Conway, Arkansas, Sharon moved to Missouri when she was 20 years old for medical school at William Woods College. She met her husband, Tim, while he was in law school. They married and moved to Kansas City. She gave birth to two children in two years and then decided not to finish medical school, opting to stay home with her children. ―I don‘t regret one minute of the time I spent taking care of my kids. It was either marriage or medicine.‖ Sharon and her family had several happy years in a beautiful home. They lived an affluent life full of homemaking and socializing until the birth of her last child, when Sharon began to suffer from bipolar depression. ―I developed real serious depression with alcoholism along with it.‖ Untreated, those struggles were a heavy weight for Sharon and her family. Sharon and Tim divorced in 1995. For years, Sharon was unable to resolve getting divorced, so she continued to drink. ―I was up and down. I had a couple good jobs here and there, but I was spiraling out of control, in and out of treatments a few times.‖ She survived those last few years in Missouri on the money left in her retirement account. Down to her last $1,000, Sharon decided to spend it, hoping she would be dead before she‘d spent it all. continued on page 6

Home, Sweets, & Home, continued

― The money was gone. I couldn‘t pay my rent, and I was still alive. So I moved back home to Conway.‖ Sharon intended to move in with her sister, but found that situation unlivable. After three months of living in Conway, Sharon had nowhere to go. She had one brother in Little Rock, but because he cares for his disabled child, Sharon did not want to burden him. ―I left my sister‘s with $40 and ¼ tank of gas. I had the clothes on my back and one pair of shorts in my bag.‖

Sharon‘s kids, now grown and successful in their own careers, stayed in contact with her with phone calls and letters while she lived at Our House.

I didn’t mean to kill myself, but I figured I would die. The next phase in Sharon‘s life is ―so sordid that it‘s hard to admit.‖ These were the darkest and most difficult times in her life. She couldn‘t imagine that, with her background and education, she would end up almost dying in a motel room in Morgan, Arkansas. ―I didn‘t mean to kill myself, but I figured I would die. I went to that motel with a whole lot of vodka and decided I would drink until I couldn‘t drink anymore.‖ Sharon was completely void of self-esteem, and she didn‘t see any reason to go on living. ―I figured I would just pass out and take my medicine and that, hopefully, would be the end of it.‖

You don’t come to Our House to lie down. You get to work. Then Sharon got a phone call from her worried children; it had been months since they‘d heard from her. ―They got me out of my stupor, at least enough that I got the strength to open up the phone book and look up shelters.‖ Sharon knew nothing of Our House before she made that phone call one Sunday afternoon. By Monday morning, Sharon was pulling into the guard shack. ―I just said, ‗I hope you have a place for me.‘ I was so tired I felt like I could come in and lie down for weeks. Of course I didn‘t. You don‘t come to Our House to lie down. As soon as you‘re settled in a bed, you get to work.‖ Sharon admits that the move to Our House was a difficult transition for her. ―It was major for me to live the life of rules at Our House: get my chore done, find a job. It was like being a baby and starting completely over. I had no idea whether I would stay. I just knew that there were obviously people here that were going to help me, who cared about me, that it was safe, and it was clean. And that was as good as my life was going to be for a while.‖ Sharon did stay. continued on page 7

Home, Sweets, & Home, continued

“The Shugie’s recipe was one of my beloved grandmother’s. Shugie was her affectionate name for her husband. As I served them through the years, I was consistently told that I should market them.”

Sharon was excited to give a couple of Our House staff a tour of her new house. In a couple of weeks she will move into the little cottage, her first new home in years.

Everyone loved me through this. She applied for jobs for which she was vastly over-educated. ―I was a breakfast hostess at an extended-stay hotel. I had no waitressing or hostessing experience other than hosting parties and family gatherings. It was like a Lucy Show with all the waffle batter spilling. If the eggs weren‘t perfect they had to be thrown out. I was horrible at it! I remember dropping the mop water one day. I came back [to Our House] in tears and went to my case manager thinking, ‗I was right, I am worthless.‘‖ Sharon‘s case manager was Justin Sanders, now the Family Housing Manager at Our House. Justin told Sharon about a job trainee position open in Little Learners. Job trainees like Sharon learn useful job skills while they work and live here at Our House. Sharon worked there for 20 months. Within one year she‘d saved over $2,000, enough to get a new motor for her vehicle. ―I had to start saving all over again once I got that motor, but it was worth it. And everyone here just loved me through this whole experience.‖

Shugie’s Within 6 months of living here, Sharon was already looking for ways to give back. The idea turned into reality when she started selling her Shugie‘s at Hestand‘s in the Heights. Sharon used her ex-husband‘s grandmother‘s recipe to make the sugarcoated cookies that were a huge hit around the holidays. ―It‘s something I made all my life for my family and for parties and gave as gifts. Hestand‘s was shocked at how fast they sold.‖ Sharon gives a portion of those earnings to Our House each month. Sharon was inspired by the support she saw from the Little Rock community. She decided to serve others who might arrive at Our House, weary, tired, and in need of support. ―I take nothing for granted.‖ continued on page 10

“I’m very careful with what I spend now. I never appreciated anything as much as the $12 curtains I have now.”

Home, Sweets, & Home, continued

I can make it. Residents may live at Our House for two years or until they save $10,000. Aware that her time was almost up, Sharon decided to look for a job outside of Our House. The job skills she learned in Little Learners Child Development Center have served her well. She is now a toddler teacher at Helping Hands. ―I have health insurance, not too much money, but I can make it. I‘m a work in progress.‖ She even found her own home—a little cottage next to an old farmhouse. ―It‘s just a living room, kitchen, laundry area, and back bedroom, but it‘s everything! I have a deck and front porch! I have privacy and quiet. I have my life back.” What was Sharon‘s first stop when she found out about the cottage? She went to Savers. “No more of this going to the store and buying things new. I‘m very careful with what I spend now. I went ahead and spent $12 on curtains. They‘re my colors! They‘re my curtains! If my family needed a sofa before, we just ordered a brand new sofa. But I never appreciated anything as much as the $12 curtains I have now.‖ In just a couple of weeks, Sharon will move into her new home with a good job and savings in the bank. But she‘ll never forget what Our House and its supporters have done for her. ―I will always, forever, think about giving back to Our House. I want to give back what I can, even if its $10 or $20 a month. It is nothing compared to what my life is worth. I can‘t put a price on my life, and I have it back thanks to Our House. I used to give because I needed a tax deduction. Now I give treasure because that‘s where my heart is.‖ Sharon asked us to mention in this article a special thanks to “my great friend Kelly Dunaway Holt who has loved me through it all for 47 years.”

from the Director Georgia Mjartan, Executive Director This summer marked the 5th anniversary of when 250 people came out on a hot summer day to build a playground for the children of Our House. In light of this, I have given some thought to the impact of the playground on our children – over 1,000 swinging, jumping, playing boys and girls over these past five years.

When I first came to Our House 6 years ago, there was so much to be done it was hard to know where to start. Our buildings were falling apart. One of the houses where homeless families live during their stay with us was in such bad shape that the ceiling literally caved in one day. The grounds of our campus looked like a sea of broken asphalt. In our community, like communities across America, the face of homelessness was changing. We were seeing a dramatic increase in homeless families with children. To respond to this growing need, we had just finished building a shelter that would house 80 people, compared to the 40 beds we had offered previously. Coupled with the Family Housing also on our 4-acre campus, Our House now had housing for 110 people on any given night. A third of our residents were children. With so much do ahead of us, and as a new Executive Director, I went to my staff and posed the question to them, ―With so many problems, so many needs,

where do you think we should start? What is the most important need we have?‖ A teacher in our child care, normally timid, spoke out without hesitation, ―We need a new playground.‖ Our small, rusty playground was so old that pieces of it had come apart, leaving exposed, sharp metal edges. The old playground sat right off of the main drive to enter and exit our campus. It had been fenced in with chain links, but because there wasn‘t enough room, the space was so tight that a child swinging couldn‘t jump off while in mid-air or else he would careen into the fence. It was unsightly, unsafe, and worst of all, it was a playground that told our children that they were not important. Every week, I would go to my staff meeting and ask my team if they had any suggestions or questions. Every week, Ms. Janet, the child care teacher, asked me, ―Georgia, when are you going to get us a new playground?‖ continued on page 14

The Thrill of Climbing High, continued

t was a tough question for me. As a child who grew up playing in parks, loving to swing, excited by the thrill of climbing high, I knew the power a playground could have. But that didn‘t change our reality. We were a homeless shelter with barely enough money to feed our residents. There were many times in those early days when we didn‘t know how we would make payroll. We literally did not have enough money in the bank to pay our energy bills, and I was making calls to donors asking for money just for the basics. A new playground seemed out of the question. I wrote a letter of appeal to KaBoom!, an organization that helps groups like Our House find funding and make plans to build playgrounds. My letter sounded a lot like the story outlined here. I explained our situation. I told them about the 300 homeless children who come to Our House every year–children who

have never had a backyard, children who have lived in cars and in dark apartments without heat or air. I wrote about our community and the neighborhood just behind our property, where little children ride their bikes up and down the street while teenagers deal drugs right in front of them, with no adults in sight. I told them how we had no money, but we were not going to give our kids a hand-me-down playground because everything they had was hand-me-down. Because our kids–these sweet, homeless children– get made fun of at school because of all they don‘t have and, worst of all, because the school bus drops them off in front of a homeless shelter, exposing their secret to all of their classmates. For all those reasons, we needed a new playground. We needed KaBoom!‘s help, and we needed a sponsor who would foot the bill to purchase the equipment for us. continued on page 16

As a child who grew up playing in parks, loving to swing, excited by the thrill of climbing high, I knew the power a playground could have. But that didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t change our reality. We were a homeless shelter with barely enough money to feed our residents. A new playground seemed out of the question.

The Thrill of Climbing High, continued

ithin months of writing that letter to KaBoom!, a team of playground designers was in the Shelter, asking our homeless children what their dream playground would look like. The kids got to pick the colors, the components—slides, swings, monkey bars. They got to dream up something magnificent, and weeks later, they got to see it built for them, a brand new playground on the campus of a homeless shelter, funded by Pepsi and orchestrated by KaBoom! On build day, 250 people came to help us build our playground. It was July and the hottest day of the year, with the temperature topping 100°, but that didn‘t keep the community away. Seeing so

many people, all so different from each other, unified in their work to build a playground for our children was truly inspirational. There were civic groups, church groups, social workers, bankers, business people, students, elected officials, and even a group from a home for developmentally disabled adults. I have a photograph from our build which I cherish because it captures the heart of what a KaBoom! Build is all about. It is a photograph of one of our board members, an Arkansas Supreme Court Justice, working alongside one of our residents, a 50-year-old homeless man who had never learned to read: two people, so different from each other, equal in their service, equally committed to building something wonderful for our homeless children.

I have seen a bright 8-year-old who has been through so muchâ&#x20AC;Ś climb to the highest point and smile with pride at her accomplishment. This summer marks the five-year anniversary of that day when we built a KaBoom! playground for the children of Our House. In five years, over 1,000 children have enjoyed the playground, and the community has continued to give. Just a few months ago, a group of financial planners and investment brokers from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney stepped out of their offices and onto the playground to spruce it up, fix what was worn, and add new things for our children to enjoy. continued on page 18

The Thrill of Climbing High, continued

ut it is not the numbers of volunteers who have helped or children who have played that reveal the impact of this playground. It is the stories. The playground has given our children something to be proud of. What a gift for these children to be able to invite their friends from school to play on their playground. They don‘t have a home to invite them to. They only have a single bed in a shelter dorm, but now they have a playground to call their own. In these five years, the playground has been a gathering point, a place for families that were broken to reconnect. I have seen a homeless father, a former drug addict, lovingly lift his daughter onto the swing, a young mom catch her little girl as she comes down the slide, and a bright 8-year-old who has been through so much—the loss of her mom, separation from her sister—climb to the highest point and smile with pride at her accomplishment. The shelter meets our families‘ basic needs – it gives them housing. The playground meets our children‘s heart needs – it gives them a home.

playground grant opportunity Could your school, organization, or community use a new playground? KaBOOM!, in partnership with Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, is offering $15,000 Let’s Play Playground Constructions Grants to qualifying organizations using the KaBOOM! community-build model. Applications are due September 30th. Click here for more information.

donor receives as much as he gives By Jessica Suitor, In-Kind Donations VISTA Hamid Habibi had heard about Our House from friends, but it was a discussion with Executive Director Georgia Mjartan at a fundraising event that motivated him to become an Our House donor. He and his wife, Isabel, were excited to learn about the Our House education and job training programs and wanted to find ways to get involved. Now every month Habibi‘s car pulls up to the shelter packed full of necessities like paper towels, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, and trash bags. The Habibis make a special trip to a local bulk store just to purchase these items for the residents of the shelter. Habibi says he loves ―helping people to get back on their feet and become selfsustained.‖ Because of their kindness, his family was named one of the Top 10 In-Kind Donors for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. Habibi enjoys working with Our House so much he hopes to find even more ways to serve.

new board members

George Knollmeyer

Mary Shue

George Knollmeyer is the Manager of Administrative Services for Ben E. Keith Foods. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Arkansas Oil Marketers Association. George served as the Chair of the Food Committee for Dinner on the Grounds 2011 and has been instrumental in securing thousands of dollars in goods and materials for Our House.

Mary Shue is a caregiver, manicurist, and pedicurist for Caracalla Spa. She is a member of St. Andrewâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s Growing In Grace. Mary volunteered in Little Learners Child Development Center for months after leaving Our House as a resident and job trainee. Mary is excited to spend time with and serve as a mentor for the current residents of Our House.

Chris Scaffhauser

Rep. Darrin Williams

Chris Scaffhauser is the Facility and Engineering Manager for United Parcel Service. He is responsible for all project engineering, safety regulations, and facility maintenance on all UPS facilities in Arkansas and Southwest Missouri. He is a member of Holy Souls Catholic Church and coaches youth basketball at Calvary Baptist Church. Chris is active in helping residents at Our House find work and think about the possibilities they could achieve.

Rep. Darrin Williams is a Managing Partner for Carney Williams Bates Bozeman & Pulliam, PLLC. He is also a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, District 36, and the Legislative Hunger Alliance. He is a deacon and Sunday school teacher at Central Church of Christ, and he is a member of the CARTI Board of Directors. As a member of the Legislative Hunger Alliance, Rep. Williams designated $5,000 in grant funds to Our House.

family begins to thrive at Our House

By Ben Goodwin, Grants Manager Melissa came to Our House eight months ago with her kids, Kaleb and Zadie, and a mission to turn their lives around. Considering everything Melissa had been through before coming to Our Houseâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;including homelessness, extreme poverty, drugs, and prisonâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the progress she and her family have made since arriving is remarkable. She has held down a full-time job, saved a considerable amount of money, paid off fines and past-due bills, worked toward her GED, and put herself and her family in a great position to succeed on their own. Her kids have thrived as well. Zadie has blossomed from a shy and withdrawn first-grader to a confident, outgoing second-grader. She brought her reading skills up to grade-level and discovered a love of books. Kaleb has worked through some emotional issues himself. He is excelling in school and is being tested for admission into his schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s gifted and talented program. What is even more notable is how Melissa has not just focused on her own family but has gone out of her way to help other residents as well. For instance, she not only helped her own children sign up for football and cheerleading through the community center but worked with other parents to sign up all the children in the Family House (where she and her kids live) for these activities. She helped prepare a new garden bed in the Our House garden, and she shared the abundance of tomatoes and cucumbers with all of the Family House residents. Altogether, she has helped build a strong, tight-knit community among the residents of the Family House. They cook meals together, work through problems together, and share their lives in ways that make each of them stronger. This is the spirit of Our House: people helping each other overcome hardship and building a community in the process. Even Zadie has caught the spirit; she recently gave her bicycle to a new girl in the afterschool program who was going through a difficult time.

Much of Melissaâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s success is due to her participation in Our Houseâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s Family Housing Program. The Family House is a transitional housing facility that allows residents to stay in private family rooms and share a common living room and kitchen. Residents of the Family House have more responsibility than shelter residents. They are required to purchase their own food, pay a low rent, keep up with chores, work, save 75% of their earnings, and participate in educational and training activities. The program allows residents to obtain the skills necessary become successful tenants or homeowners. The Our House Family House is also the only shelter in Arkansas that allows single fathers to stay with their children.

thanks! School Uniforms Just a week before school began, Our House was in desperate need of school supplies and uniforms. Christ the King Catholic Church, the Cherry family from Summit Church, board member Amanda Hughes, Temple Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;nai Israel, Fellowship Bible Church, Altrusa, and many individuals ensured that our kids had the tools they need to succeed in school.

The Clinton School On August 18th, as part of an orientation service project, the Clinton School Class of 2013 volunteered at Our House, sorting donations, landscaping, and working with the kids in Little Learners. The students did an excellent job.

Central High School Class of 2001 The Central High School Class of 2001 selected Our House as their community service project for their ten-year reunion this August. With the help of Little Rock Urban Farming, the group was able to plant sturdy bushes around the Family house and re-mulch the entire campus. They also served lunch to all residents in both the Family House and the Shelter.

The Paul Mitchell School The Paul Mitchell School provided free haircuts for our residents. The residents loved their new hairdos. Something as simple as a haircut can make a huge impact on the confidence of a homeless man, woman or child.

top ways to donate Have an Our House birthday party On your birthday, ask your friends and family to bring a needed item for Our House instead of bringing you a birthday present.

Pick up an extra one When you are at the grocery store, pick up an extra bag of rice, pasta, or canned food item for our pantry.

Have a collection at work Have an empty box in the break room so your colleagues can fill the box with donations.

Clean out your closets We have 110-120 people at Our House at any given time. Often many of them come here with nothing. Donating your gently-used clothing will help provide for our residents.

August Donors Individuals

Congregations

Mary Aitken & Richard Kurten Anonymous donor Amy & Hamlin Au Betsy Barnes Debi Barnes Richard Bruno Jennifer & J.M. Cherry Cynthia Crone Tanya D. Giles Nina Hillis Sarah & Theodore Hood Glenda Longmore & Daniel Watson Susan & Kenneth Martin Susan Miller Rebecca & Dale Pekar Sally Smith Bridget & Andrew Upchurch Amelia & Rev. Donn Walters Jodi Woods Hardy Winburn

Cathedral of St. Andrew Christ the King Catholic Church Church of the Immaculate Conception Our Lady of Holy Souls Catholic Church St. Anne Catholic Church St. James United Methodist Church Summit Church

Corporations Anonymous Starbucks Coffee Company

Grants and Foundations City of Little Rock Heart of Arkansas United Way HUD State of Arkansas

Join our e-mail list to receive our newsletter, event invitations, wish lists, job openings, and volunteer opportunities. www.ourhouseshelter.org