On August 11, Our House was honored to receive the 2021 Organizational Leadership Award from the American Psychological Association’s Committee on Socioeconomic Status (CSES).

Each year, CSES gives awards to recognize the outstanding achievements of psychologists, students of psychology and organizations which have made significant contributions to the understanding of socioeconomic status (SES) and the lives and well-being of the socioeconomically disadvantaged. The awards are given in four areas: to distinguished leaders, emerging leaders, students and organizations.

The virtual award ceremony featured inspiring conversation from CSES committee members and fellow 2021 CSES award winners Mindi Thompson, PhD, HSP; Taewon Kim; and Rosie Phillips Davis, PhD, ABPP.

The highlight of the evening for our team, however, came from CSES Chair Beryl Ann Cowan, JD, PhD, who shared with us that her early work with Genesis Shelter (which merged with Our House in 2014) is what inspired her to earn her doctorate and led to her subsequent research on the impact of homelessness on children.

From the bottom of our hearts, Our House thanks CSES for this incredible honor, and for their unceasing commitment to reducing socioeconomic disparities in our communities.

More on the awards, including past winners, can be viewed here: https://www.apa.org/about/awards/cses-leadership-organizations

Largest Program Grant in Nonprofit’s 33-Year History

Our House has received a grant of $1,000,000 for high-quality early learning programs for young children experiencing homelessness.

This transformational gift will provide early childhood education scholarships and mental and behavioral healthcare services to young children over a period of three years. In addition, the funding will allow Our House to invest in leadership capacity building for its staff.

“For children, the trauma of homelessness can cause developmental delays and behavioral health challenges that become long-term barriers to learning and career success,” says Tyese Lawyer, Our House President and CEO. “That is why high-quality early education programs and early intervention services like the ones supported by this grant are so important, as early interventions help mitigate the negative effects of homelessness and break the cycle.”

Our House’s early childhood education program serves children ages six weeks to five years old whose families are experiencing homelessness. Each year, more than 200 children receive personalized lessons; nutritious meals; regular developmental assessments, health and early intervention services; and ongoing enrichment activities at Our House. The program serves children who are most at-risk for poor educational outcomes, and is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and Quality Rated.

The grant will provide scholarships to fully cover the program costs for children not covered by Head Start, allowing Our House to continue to offer these services at no cost to parents.

Funding will also allow Our House to contract with inclusions specialists from The Adaptive Learning Center to provide daily intervention services for children with special developmental or behavioral needs.

“Through this generous gift, The Goizueta Foundation has invested in the futures of hundreds of Atlanta’s most vulnerable children,” says President Lawyer. “We honor and are deeply grateful for the Foundation’s continued partnership with Our House, and its commitment to expanding opportunity through education.”

Atlanta, GA — Our House’s Atlanta site recently received a three-star rating from Quality Rated — the highest rating a childcare site can receive.

Georgia’s Quality Rated tool helps parents find high-quality early childhood education programs in their area. Quality Rated is an initiative of Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning and provides a systemic approach to assess, improve and communicate the level of quality in early childhood education programs. Quality Rated assigns a quality rating (one star, two star or three star) to programs that meet a set of defined quality standards.

By participating in Quality Rated, organizations commit to continuous quality improvement in the field of childcare and early childhood education. Our House’s Decatur site will undergo the application process in winter 2020.

About Our House
Our House is a nonprofit organization on a mission to end the cycle of homelessness for families. Founded in 1987, Our House serves over 500 individuals experiencing homelessness annually, and offers shelter, early childhood education, job-training, and case management services for families.

With over 350 guests in attendance, Our House’s 30^th Birthday celebration, Cocktails, Confetti & Cake, generated close to $275,000 – 10% more than the goal!

The program started off with a welcome by the night’s emcee and advisory council member, Jovita Moore. Board Chair, Adele Gipson, introduced gala honoree, Stephanie Blank, and presented her with an award for her service and dedication to vulnerable children and her support of Our House.

After Blank’s remarks, Our House President and CEO, Tyese Lawyer, made brief remarks and attendees viewed a moving video presentation about the impact of Our House (view below). The live auction and fund-a-need drew spirited participation and contributed to the success of the evening.

Our House Board Member, Brendan Branon, had this to say about the event and our honoree, “Stephanie Blank was an inspiring honoree and speaker – her speech was a great call to action and I know resonated with our guests. Great way to start off 2018!”

Our House would like to extend a special thank you to our presenting sponsor, The Coca-Cola Company as well as all of our gala sponsors, patrons and hosts. We also want to recognize the Gala Chair, Emily Hertz, and the entire Gala Committee for their hard work. 

Check out the Gala video presentation below:

Largest Program Grant in 30 Year History of Our House

Atlanta, GA May 25, 2017:  In a powerful statement of support for the importance of early childhood education, a local foundation recently awarded Our House a grant of $900,000 to support high-quality early learning programs for Atlanta children experiencing homelessness. Over the next three years, the transformational grant will ensure that Our House achieves its strategic goals of programmatic and operational excellence. Grant funding will provide general scholarships for homeless children to attend Our House’s early childhood education program and will allow for the expansion of an existing partnership that provides daily intervention services for children with special needs.

Homelessness is a traumatic experience, and in recent years, research has become more and more conclusive regarding the effects of trauma. For children, the trauma of homelessness can cause developmental delays and behavioral health challenges that, when left unaddressed, become barriers to successful learning.

To combat the problem, children at Our House receive developmental assessments early on in order to determine their individual needs and assess the best way to prepare them for Kindergarten. Many homeless children have special needs that require intervention to be ready for school. In addition to regular classroom activities, Our House partners with The Adaptive Learning Center to provide daily intervention services for children with identified need for special attention.

Grant support will allow Our House to place a specialist from The Adaptive Learning Center at the Atlanta site for the first time, and will support continued service at the Decatur site, expanding the partnership from one site to two.

Funding will also provide scholarships to fully cover the costs of children not covered by Head Start, allowing Our House to continue to offer services at no cost for children who are most at risk of poor educational outcomes.

Our House provides shelter to live and education to thrive. The mission of Our House is to break the chains of homelessness by providing quality early childhood education and comprehensive support services for families experiencing homelessness.