Each year, Our House hosts its largest fundraiser, Tie One On. The event is always a crowd favorite, with guests coming from all over the area to lend a hand to the organization that is dedicated to doing the same.
For this year’s seasonal event, we got a chance to talk to co-chairs John and Michelle Terry about their work with Our House, Tie One On and where it all began for them.
Tell us a little bit about Tie One On and how it benefits Our House.
Tie One On is a fantastic annual event that Our House holds around the Holidays. The event features locally designed and decorated aprons with each of the auction packages. The aprons are used to represent the 79,000 meals served every year by Our House. Some of this year’s packages include trips to Orlando and New York City; an evening house boat cruise with drinks and hors d’oeuvres; and a painting by a local artist. Another amazing fact is that approximately 97% of the money raised at Tie One On is actually passed directly to Our House.
How did you get involved with this organization?
When we moved to Little Rock a little over five years ago, we were interested in finding a way for us to be involved in the community as a family. With three children, we felt it was important for our entire family to be involved.
We were lead to Our House through John’s office, Morgan Stanley, being involved. Our children’s school was also involved, as was our church. All signs pointed us to Our House! Now we are able to volunteer our time as a family and be involved with a wonderful organization that improves our community by giving hope to the homeless community.
What are some things we might be surprised to learn about Our House and its outreach efforts?
Our House is so much more than a homeless shelter. For starters, it’s a hand-up vs. handout approach. Residents must agree to have a job while at the shelter, and there’s a huge amount of resources provided to help residents improve not just their work skills, but life skills as well.
Our House also has a unique vision to go to the root of the homeless problem by offering a wide variety of services to the near homeless. One of the key projects to help was the completion of the new state-of-the-art children’s center that opened earlier this year. Oftentimes the determinant of whether a family becomes homeless or stays independent is the huge cost of after school care and out of school care, and Our House helps dozens of families avoid homelessness through this unique and wonderful service for kids.
Why do you choose to keep your focus in Little Rock?
We think it is important to help improve the community you live in, and now that we know about all the wonderful services that Our House provides, we are fully committed to assisting them in building a stronger future for Little Rock.
What are some different ways people can get involved with Our House?
Our House holds an open house every month. There’s no question; if you attend once and take a tour, you’ll become a volunteer. Whether it’s mentoring families, donating clothes and supplies for the children’s center or serving meals to residents, opportunities abound to become involved! And you can buy tickets to Tie One On and attend the fundraising event this Thursday, December 4th!
Visit the Our House website for more information and to purchase tickets to Tie One On. You can also follow them on Facebook, Twitter and their thrift store on Instagram.