National Nonprofit Day — Who Knew?
August 16, 2024 — Gary & Laura House
According to the National Day Calendar, it seems that nearly every cause has a day dedicated to making people aware of their mission. Some of them are pretty light-hearted, making us wonder how on earth they were able to get recognition, but they do draw a chuckle. Others make a bit more sense, like National Coffee Day (September 29). 😀
Today is National Nonprofit Day, a time that “recognizes the goals and positive impacts nonprofits have on communities and the world.” Since you are reading the Our Hearts Are Home blog, you are likely fairly aware of what we do, but it seemed appropriate to share our mission and goals on this day. We’ll start with a recap of how it all began.
2017 — After the loss of our precious son, Nathan, in 2016, we recognized the blessing that being in community with bereaved parents had been to us in our grief journey, and we wanted to help others.
2018 — We started a website with resources for bereaved parents.
2019 — We became a nonprofit corporation and held the first gathering for bereaved parents in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
2020 — OHAH became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Because of COVID, we transitioned to offering most opportunities online, which allowed bereaved parents from all across the country (and some internationally) to join in.
2021 - 2022 — We continued to minister, expanded the opportunities we offered, and grew.
2023 — We experienced rapid growth and added more bereaved parents to the team of wonderful facilitators, who share the comfort they have found in Christ with others.
2024 — Our Hearts Are Home serves grieving parents and grandparents in the following ways:
Online
Book Studies
GriefShare
Gatherings (some in person as well)
Support Groups (one in person as well)
Podcast- “Trusting God in Suffering”
Blog
Social Media (daily scripture memes of encouragement)
Private Community on Facebook
YouTube Channel (helpful videos)
Other
Additional Resources — Free downloads
Book publishing
Conferences
Fall Conference (ONLINE and in Indianapolis, IN)
Spring Conference (ONLINE and in Lynchburg, VA)
Our Mission statement is as follows: Our Hearts Are Home is a faith-based non-profit organization whose purpose is to minister to grieving families, provide encouragement to those who are suffering and educate and equip individuals to reach out to those in need.
Our theme verse is 2 Corinthians 1:3-5:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, “who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.”
Today, OHAH provides an opportunity for grieving parents and grandparents to gather with others who understand the difficult journey of loss. Offering hope and challenging each other to walk by faith in the midst of our brokenness, those who come together find comfort, encouragement, and community.
Would you join us in this mission?
