For folks struggling to get by, the threat of losing your home is a constant fear and a periodic reality. At the Little Rock nonprofit Our House, the core mission for more than 35 years has been helping residents of central Arkansas who have lost their homes — or who are at risk of doing so — succeed at work. Through its Career Center, the organization assists adults in finding jobs, building careers and achieving lasting self-sufficiency. “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,” says Executive Director Ben Goodwin.
With job training and educational support, the Career Center prepares clients for above-minimum-wage positions in fields such as the culinary arts, commercial-vehicle driving, healthcare and manufacturing. Once placed, participants receive on-going support as well as access to courses in financial literacy and physical and mental wellness. The starting wage for Our House clients recently averaged nearly $15 an hour. “For people going from homelessness to employment, that’s an amazing first step,” Goodwin says.
Many of Our House’s clients are families led by single mothers, Goodwin notes, and the pressures of solo parenting and childcare, combined with the area’s lack of affordable housing, can make locating a suitable home especially challenging. “Helping people find jobs has always been the foundation of our approach,” he says. “Making your own money puts the power in your hands. It not only helps with housing instability but also confers benefits like a sense of purpose and greater self-esteem.”
Our House has been expanding job services to meet the demand, helped by a grant from Bank of America. Over a three-year period, Our House has enhanced its virtual resources, broadened its career-reentry training programs and built a race-equity culture at the organization. “Bank of America’s grant has helped us be more intentional about building employer partnerships,” Goodwin says. The Career Center now hosts multiple hiring events each week, and new training programs are helping clients move through the job certification process more quickly. In addition, a resource hotline that’s staffed six days a week handles more than 1,200 calls a month, and a recent expansion has increased the number of families the organization can house by 50% and doubled the number of children that can be accommodated in childcare.
“Despite all the challenges they face, we know that our clients have tremendous drive and ability to make amazing contributions to our community,” Goodwin says. “Support from our community, particularly private sector support from partners like Bank of America, is the lifeblood of what we do.”
The support for Our House is an example of how, from entrepreneur funding and expanding homeownership to professional skills training and healthcare access, Bank of America continues to partner with innovative leaders to help communities implement solutions to society’s important challenges.
