Clean up day was a great success and the House of Mary property looks fantastic! Thank you so much to each and every person that braved the chilly weather (and mud) to come out and help. We swept, pressure washed, filled a dumpster with construction debris, landscaped around the sign, planted rose bushes, and much more! Along with clean up tasks, we also relocated some friendly snakes, set a mouse free, and disrupted a skunk. Thank you again to all who came out. You are such a blessing to HOM and we enjoyed working alongside you all today. You can see a few pictures from Clean Up Day in the slideshow below!
 Building update - supplies for running utilities will be delivered next week! Installation will begin soon after! During that time, Impact Fire will begin the installation of our indoor sprinkler system. As soon as the utilities are finished, sprinkler system is finished and checked we will begin the final steps of completing the house. With the finishing touches just around the corner, our land and house are in need of some tidying up.
So... We will be having a House of Mary Property Clean Up Day on November 2nd from 8 am to noon. We will be cleaning up the inside and outside of the house - power washing the house, picking up random boards and trash, possibly laying sod, mowing the lot, landscaping the sign, sweeping the building, possibly landscaping the grounds, cleaning the windows, and much much more. We need all the help we can get so that the final touches can be done to the house and we can OPEN THE DOORS to the first maternity home in Polk County!! So please add this date to your calendar and bring your family to help out at this event! We will have breakfast for you! Due to an underwhelming response to Trivia Night, we have sadly decided to cancel the event. All teams and sponsors will be fully refunded. The board is currently praying and seeking God's direction on our next event for fundraising.
An update on the house: The house is currently dried in. All plumbing, electrical, heating and air, and our security system wiring have been completed. We are now waiting on our sprinkler system to be installed ($9,750) along with running our utility lines ($10,000+). After those two things are complete we will start on insulation, sheet rock, and all the finishing touches on the house ($65,000+), this does not include any furnishings for the house. Currently we have a bank balance of $91,000. As always, thank you for your continued support. If you feel led to give please click HERE to do so. We have some big prayer requests and praises with our build and we wanted to give you an update on where we are financially, the cost of the build, and what we need for the future.
In January, our bank account had $242,432.07. We started building in March and right after dirt started moving we had our Ladies Tea fundraiser where we raised $3,974. Building the house has been exciting and nerve wracking all at the same time. We have been so blessed by several companies who have offered their services to us free of charge so you will not see them in the following list of expenses we have paid. Dirt work - $43,875 Dirt work on road - $19,700 Concrete - $12,720 Labor for concrete - $6000 Rebar and other concrete items - $3702 Builders insurance - $576 1st and 2nd draw for framers - $16,000 Indoor sprinkler system (required by city) $10,290 Materials including wood, sheet rocks, shingles etc. - $48,000 Insulation - $4200 Electrical bid not including temporary power pole - $19,000 Roofer - $2500 For a grand total of $187,331 So...where do we go from here? We know we have some major expenses left before the house opens -which include but are not limited to; labor for all things installed, cabinets, flooring, furniture, fixtures and so much more. We have a huge fundraiser coming up in September (it is something new and exciting that we can't wait to share with y'all) but we know we will need our Village to step in before September comes. We need your help. This post is a very humbling post and we felt a nudge from the Holy Spirit to lay out our finances before our supporters. We are so thankful for all of you and we know with out a shadow of doubt that God has gone before us, and that no matter what man can do, God CAN and WILL do so much more than we can ask or imagine. Praise: God has provided each and every penny that we have needed to build this house so far. He truly has gone before us. Prayer Request: the rest of the money we will need to finish the house with excellence If you feel the need, urge, or want to give you may do so by clicking on the link below. https://www.homlivingston.org/give.html After a bit of waiting (okay, a LOT of waiting all thanks to the crazy non-stop rain) construction has officially begun! Boy, did we hit the ground running too! Dirt work began on March 11, 2019, and it's been pretty much full steam ahead ever since. We've been documenting all of the progress as it happens on Facebook and Instagram, so be sure to follow House of Mary to stay up to date on the progress! Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support. We couldn't do this without you! Scroll through the photos below for a recap of the progress made so far! We are so thankful to everyone that came out for the House of Mary Scripture Writing & Prayer Night Friday evening. All of the scriptures and words written on the studs throughout the house were truly beautiful and heartfelt. From the encouraging verses in the future house mom suite to the words of hope in the bedrooms. We were so moved by every last word! The pictures below were taken by the amazing Aubrey Cruse of A.R. Cruse Photography. We are so thankful that he is always willing to use his talents to document these special moments for House of Mary!  We are so happy to announce our third annual Ladies Tea! This is definitely one of our favorite events of the year. We are especially excited about our special guest speaker, Kelly Needham!
Kelly Needham is married to singer/songwriter and speaker Jimmy Needham. She first began writing and speaking to his fan base in 2008 as they traveled together and has since garnered a much wider platform. Kelly is the author of the upcoming book Friendish: Reclaiming Real Friendship in a Culture of Confusion and is a regular contributor for Revive Our Hearts. Her writing has also been featured at Desiring God, The Gospel Coalition, The Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission, Eternal Perspectives Ministries, and Crosswalk. She has been on staff at two different churches, serving in youth, college, and women's ministry. Whether writing or speaking, Kelly’s aim is to convince as many people as possible that nothing compares to knowing Jesus. She and Jimmy live in the Dallas area with their three children, Lively, Sophia, and Benjamin. You can find more of her writing and speaking at kellyneedham.com or follow her on social media. We hope you and your friends will make plans to attend this sweet afternoon of tea and fellowship! For full details and to purchase tickets click here. Hi friends,
With the Giving Tuesday push came a few thoughtful messages asking about a progress update. We know this is much overdue and ask that you graciously bear with us as we attempt to lay it all out for you. Where we were: We launched HOM to the public with only a couple hundred dollars in our bank account and have been trudging through what we’ve called the “fundraising phase” ever since. Our first fundraiser (Be The Good shirts) brought in a little over $5,000 and we’ve been slowly building from there while heading towards a rough goal of around $300,000 to build a 3,600 square foot house. As a faith based organization, we don’t qualify for government grants, so private donations and fundraising was/is our main avenue of income. We knew this would be tricky for a small community already saturated with amazing organizations. Where we are: After 3 Miles for Marys, 2 (almost 3 – thanks, Harvey) Savory Septembers, 1 Silent Night, 2 Ladies Teas, a few t-shirt fundraisers, 1 exhausting garage sale, church love offerings, and private donations we currently have a balance of $225,271.43 in the HOM bank account. By the Grace of God, every fundraiser has turned a profit with the exception of one that thankfully broke even. Every cent has been saved or multiplied through fundraising. Where we’re going: We’ve got enough money in the bank to finally begin building a house. We’ve got plans, permits, land, a general contractor, material suppliers, volunteers, house mom position inquiries, and dozens of phone calls and messages from would-be residents that we’ve had to refer elsewhere because we don’t have a house yet – which is heartbreaking Every. Single. Time. We’ve even had our official ground breaking, but the one single thing we are lacking is dry land. That’s it. We “broke ground” and it rained. And rained. And rained some more. As soon as we think it’s dry it rains again. The ground simply won’t dry out enough to dig down to the required depth to be able to build up for our foundation, per the geo-technical survey done for the land in that area. That’s the long and the short of it. It’s exhausting and exciting and discouraging and encouraging all lumped together. All we can do as we wait is continue to raise funds in hopes of getting ahead on building costs and future operating expenses. We are so grateful to all of you for sticking with us since the very beginning and hope for your continued support as we keep pushing forward. Please pray earnestly with us for DRY GROUND! With love, HOM Board  These last three years since launching House of Mary have been a whirlwind. Raising the funds to build a large maternity home is no easy task. Building a house is no easy task. Yet throughout the nitty-gritty process, God has poured out His sweet mercies on this ministry time and time again. By His grace, and through the overwhelming generosity of our community, we are excited to announce that we have officially broken ground on the first maternity home in Livingston, TX.  We would like to say a great big “THANK YOU” to each of you that continuously support House of Mary through prayer, financial gifts, volunteering, or attending events like Miles for Mary, Ladies' Tea, and Savory September. We are so grateful. And while building this house is so very exciting and finally within our grasp, we must remember that it’s not the finish line... It’s only the starting gun!
With love, House of Mary Board Cyndie, Anna, D'Ann, Rusti, Suzonna Savory September 2018 was a great success! It was so wonderful to bring this event back to our community after Hurricane Harvey’s unwelcome arrival derailed many plans this time last year. From the delicious food to the exciting dessert and live auctions – it was definitely a fun night! We loved seeing each and every one of you there. Overall, a grand total of $29,000 was raised for House of Mary!  
This event would not have been possible without many amazing individuals and businesses.
Thank you to Jacob Jones and Big Jakes for catering our delicious meal and Chicken Express for donating all of the tea. Thank you Livingston Commerce Center for the use of their facilities and Debbie Mays for always being so accommodating. Thank you to all of our amazing volunteers! LISD National Honor Society and FFA students, Mrs. Janie and her FBC team, and our always faithful HOM volunteers. Thank you Clarke Evans and Kevan Wood for facilitating our auction and always being willing to serve! A very special thank you to our amazing Savory September Fundraising team Emily Read, Holly Lewis, Susan Witte, Kayla Pitts, and Misty Allen. This truly would not have been possible without your help. And of course, thank you to each and every person that bought a ticket or table, donated items, shared the event, the list goes on. We are grateful! |
