LITTLE ROCK — It’s dinnertime at Our House and the residents form a relaxed line at the buffet counter - women and children first, as is the custom here.
On one side of the counter are people who, for whatever reason, are homeless - men, women and children. Among them are a mother with two young babes; one will require a high chair.
On the other side of the counter are people who know to count their blessings. They’ve volunteered to put this meal on the table, to help others who are less fortunate.
Tonight dinner is on Acxiom Corp., and its volunteers are serving up a spread of baked ziti, salad, rolls and a choice of cookie.
“Cinnamon or M&M?” asks Amanda Hughes, who’s on cookie duty. She also organized tonight’s dinner and many more before it. For the last four years she has volunteered here, drawn first by an invitation from a co-worker who told her it would be a good way to meet people at her new job. Now she’s a member of the nonprofit’s board of directors and co-chairman of Tie One On, a fundraiser for the shelter set for Dec. 2.
That’s Tie One On, as in tie on an apron, not a bender, though there will be plenty of merriment at the fourth annual incarnation of the event. Aprons decorated by local artists are sold during the party to raise money.
At Tie One On there will be plenty to eat and drink - appetizers, courtesy of Trio’s and Ben E. Keith, wine from Glazers Distributors of Arkansas and music by jazz musician Michael Eubanks.
Having outgrown previous venues, this year’s event will be held at Pavilion in the Park in Little Rock.
People will bid in live and silent auctions on aprons decorated by area artists or children who live at the shelter. Following the dinner theme, local chefs Donnie Ferneauand Joshua Vinyard have donated a party for 10 to be held in the winning bidder’s home, food and wine included.
A Christmas tree decorated with ornaments created by the children who live at the shelter will also be auctioned.
“The apron signifies serving the homeless,” Hughes says. But she wants to make clear that the fundraiser, indeed all of Our House’s work, is really about “helping them help themselves.”
Hughes says her work with Our House has made her more appreciative of everything. “I mean some days you might think it’s tough going to work, but think if you didn’t have that job. Or you may think, ‘My house is so dirty.’ Or you wish you had time to do this, [or] you had that, but when you come here it’s a very humbling experience.”
Residents of the shelter, which is located at 302 E. Roosevelt Road in Little Rock, are expected to stay a while, to have a full-time job and to save 75 percent of their earnings for the day they move to permanent homes.
“They don’t want shortterm residents. They want them to stay here so they can build larger savings, so they can afford their deposits, first and last month’s rent,” Hughes says.
“What a change in your behavior from ending up in homelessness to leaving Our House having the money to get started on your own again, but also having that ingrained in your head, ‘I need to be a saver.’ What a difference.”
Working at Our House has changed Hughes’ life too. It inspired her to work toward her master’s in business administration. She is concentrating her electives in classes aboutnonprofit management.
Our House Executive Director Georgia Mjartan says Hughes has been a tireless volunteer. “She got involved with Our House before she was a board member. She’s one of the best volunteers we’ve ever had,” Mjartan says.
“She’s so incredible. She has a lot going on in her life. She’s in school, learning grant writing. ... She’s so young and already does so much to help the community.”
Hughes says one of the reasons she was so attracted to Our House is the appreciation and respect the residents show to one another and those who are working to help them.
As a student at the Arkansas School for Mathematics and Sciences in Hot Springs, she helped serve dinner at a nearby shelter, an experience that wasn’t so satisfying. Compared to her work with Our House, “It was totally different,” she said. At that shelter “people had government vouchers that they had to bring to the window to show that they qualified for the dinner. We had a small kitchen. ... We were locked inside the kitchen for our safety.”
Still, it didn’t deter her desire to help those less fortunate. “I was the kid who, when I saw homeless people on the street, I wanted to give them money.
“So when I came here it was such a different experience than what I had been exposed to before. I liked that the program isn’t designed to just be a handout.It is designed to help people build themselves out of their situation. It’s not just a place where they sleep at night.”
Even in the common rooms off of the men’s and women’s dormitories Our House has a family atmosphere. Residents carry their dinners on segmented cafeteria trays to communal tables to eat. There’s a TV playing quietly in the corner; bookshelves line some walls. Dinner conversation is mostly quiet, punctuated by laughter.
Every night dinner service is paid for and served by a different volunteer group, Hughes says.
A desk calendar affixed to the wall outside the kitchen lists who is feeding the troops each day in November. It reads like the Yellow Pages listing under churches - Baptists, Methodists, Catholics are all represented - plus Temple B’Nai Israel, Acxiom and Payless Shoes. Hughes says lots of law firms and civic organizations also help out, but this month, at least, it’s the churches, Acxiom and shoe sellers who are dishing outthe good deeds.
Mjartan says they estimate that all those free dinners have a dollar value “of about $250,000 a year that we are not having to raise, that we are not spending on food because of groups in the community who stepped up.”
Our House resident Wanda Williams, who came to the shelter two weeks ago after living in her car on the streets of Jacksonville for four months, shows off the clothes she got from the “donation box.”
Nodding toward a woman passing by, she says, “That new girl just came in today.She has nothing. I’m going to help get her fixed up with something to sleep in.”
From the donation box many ills can be cured. “Her feet are swollen, and there’s some house shoes in there,” Williams continues. “We’ve all got to help each other.” Tie One On is 6:30-9 p.m. Dec. 2 at Pavilion in the Park, 8201 Cantrell Road. Tickets are $50. For more information about Our House or to buy tickets, call (501) 374-7383, Extension 200.
High Profile, Pages 41 on 11/21/2010