Our House

Our House empowers homeless and near-homeless families and individuals to succeed in the workforce, in school, and in life through hard work, wise decision-making, and active participation in the community.

• About Us
  Founded in 1987, Our House is a nonprofit organization based in Little Rock, Arkansas. Our House empowers homeless and near-homeless families and individuals to succeed in the workforce, in school, and in life through hard work, wise decision-making, and active participation in the community. The diverse workforce that makes up the 100+ person team at Our House includes salaried and hourly staff, AmeriCorps and VISTA national service members, interns, and resident job trainees. Our House operates on a budget of approximately $4 million per year. Over the last decade, Our House has experienced tremendous growth, with an operating budget that has quintupled in size and a campus expansion that has included $10 million in capital investment. For more information, visit www.ourhouseshelter.org.
• Our Impact
  With over 2,000 homeless individuals in Arkansas on any given day, Our House is the only program in Arkansas that meets all the needs of homeless families.
  
  • Out-of-school-time youth program. In 2007 Our House launched Our Club, the state’s first after-school and summer youth program for homeless and near-homeless children. The state-licensed, quality-rated program has grown to serve 170 youth annually.
  • Curriculum-based child development center. Little Learners is another one-of-a-kind program, state-licensed child care for homeless and near-homeless children. Little Learners has grown into a Better Beginnings Level 3, curriculum-based child development center that meets the developmental needs of 150 children each year.
  • Job training and education for adults. Our Career Center provides job training, adult basic education, financial literacy courses, and much more to over 1,000 adults each year. Career Center classes are provided by state-licensed and certified instructors, with additional support from volunteer professionals in the community.
  • Homelessness prevention. In 2012 Our House launched an innovative new program designed to prevent homelessness among extremely low-income families with children. The Central Arkansas Family Stability Institute (CAFSI) has already served more than 483 families made up of 1,795 individuals, helping 84% of them avoid homelessness last year.
  • Increased staff capacity. In 2007, Our House had no dedicated case managers for clients. Today, we have a team of fourteen dedicated case managers. We have similarly built our staff capacity in our education programs for children and adults, adding experienced teachers.
  • Recruit more than 2,500 volunteers each year. In 2018, Our House benefited from over 12,465 hours of volunteer service, provided by 2,028 different people.
  • Solicit more than $1 million in in-kind donations each year. In-kind donors provide much-needed goods and services, helping us keep our costs down and expanding our ability to serve clients. Last year, in-kind donors contributed $1,150,681 worth of goods and services.
  • Coordinate services with 200+ partnering organizations each year. These organizations provide a wide range of services to deepen our service to clients, ranging from health care to employment services to education.
  • Connect clients with over 300 local employers each year. One of the most concrete ways outside partners can support our mission is to hire our clients.
  • Raise substantial funding to support our mission. Our House raises more than $500,000 each year in local donations from individuals and corporations. We additionally raised $5 million in private funding to build our new Children’s Center in 2014. Private funds also made up the majority of the $1 million used to renovate our Career Center in 2016.