Council Members Help with Grand Opening of Family Housing at Our House

Members Mattie Thacker and Maha Madani held a benefit bake sale to earn money to buy bedding for the newly refurbished family housing building at Our House Shelter for the Working Homeless. Thirty bedspread were donated to furnish the twin beds that were donated by the local chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers. The newly remodeled facility will house 13 homeless families and children - between 30 and 38 people on any given day. Families can live in the shelter for up to two years. During this time they must find full time employment and save 75% of their earnings. The children receive free child care. Parents receive workforce training and adult basic education. Mattie has worked with Our House for the last two years as a volunteer and as a fundraiser. She and Lydia Jou partnered earlier on a project called Loving Linens and presented Our House with 87 pairs of twin bedding for the single housing facility. They were recently honored for a grant they received from Scholastic Magazine for $2500 to pay for the children's field trips at the summer program.

Mattie and Maha served as greeters at the grand opening on August 9. They are pictured above with Our House Director, Georgia Mjarten.