In 2010, as we wrapped up construction on our
thirteen units of Family Housing, a donor asked,
“what’s next?” With a deep breath, I said, “we’re
going to build a space big enough for all of the
homeless children who come to us. We’re going to
build a place for them to come after school, during
the summer, over spring break—any time they’re
out of school. We’re going to build an early-learning
center so our zero-to-five-year-olds have a
wonderful place to begin their lives while their
parents are at work. This is needed now. We are
turning away children today, so we are starting
now.” And we did.
I had to take a deep breath before saying this out
loud because as I said it, I had no idea how much
this would cost, what this would look like, or how
we would raise the money to do it. But one thing I
have learned in my seven years at Our House is
that miracles consistently happen here.
By the spring of 2012, we had enough of a design
for our new Children’s Center that we knew how
many it would serve: 142 children. 90 school-aged
youth and 52 zero-to-five-year-olds. To build a
center large enough for all of these children would
cost roughly $3.8 million dollars. We received a
$665,000 challenge grant from the J.E. and L.E.
Mabee Foundation. In order to keep this g &