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
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
