Our House e-newsletter March & April 2014 | Page 11

For over a year we’ve been saying that Our
House is building a new Children’s Center.
We’ve said that our donors are building this
Children’s Center. We’ve said that the
community is building this Children’s Center.
We’ve said that our kids are building this
Children’s Center.
Hidden behind the walls and ceilings of this
Children’s Center are the fingerprints, footprints, handwriting, and occasional Sharpie
drawings left by the individuals who are really
building this Children’s Center.
Typical Kids
From inside the fence surrounding the construction site for Our House’s new Children’s
Center, Staley Electric’s Electrical Supervisor
Jason Wiles has seen the Our House kids
playing outside the current youth programs
building, and the sight reminds him of his
own childhood. “I was a typical boy when I
was little. I stayed outside all day.” Wiles
admits he doesn’t know much about Our
House or its youth programs. All he knows is
that through the fence he has seen “typical
kids,” just like he was once.

Eddie Sledge
from Bailey
Paint adds color
to the wall of the
multi-purpose
room.
February 2014

In the early days of the project, Wiles was digging with large machinery, and he noticed the
kids watching him. “They were typical kids
watching machine work.” He smiles, remembering the kids’ interest in his digging machine.
It makes perfect sense to him. “It’s noisy, it
moves, and it’s playing in the dirt!”