Great news, an upcoming opportunity, and your input

No moves on the horizon in the near future, but we are waiting.

I’m reaching out today with two pieces of great news — and one important ask.

First, the good news.

Last year, we applied for a grant from the Sacred Heart Fund and were awarded $10,000. This year, after getting to know our work more closely, they encouraged us to apply again — this time for $25,000. I’m happy to share that we received the full amount. That’s a vote of confidence in what all of you are helping make possible.

Second, another exciting update.

I told you we have a new hotel opportunity, and we just got word it is right around the corner. It’s a 250-room property, and since it’s a full teardown, we’ll be able to take what we can use. Metropolitan has generously offered to provide trucks and storage for everything we collect.

For those who participated in last year’s hotel move, we’ll follow a similar approach: we will move items from rooms into the hallways, and Metropolitan’s crew of professionals will take it to the loading dock and handle it from there. While we won’t be able to clear the entire hotel, with three trucks we expect to cover approximately 70–90 rooms. We’ll focus on end tables, lamps, easy chairs, and TVs.

The plan is to schedule this on a Saturday morning, and with enough volunteers, we should be able to complete the job in just a couple of hours.

More details once we have a confirmed date.

Now, the ask (and a perk).

Each of you has contributed your time and energy to at least one move — many of you to several, some of you more than that. Over the past year, we’ve learned a great deal about how this should work, both from hard-earned experience and from insights shared by Chris Baliko, who joined us after a decade working with OTS in Connecticut.

You are the ones doing the work on the ground, and your perspective is critical to our future. We’d really like your input:

• What are we doing well?
• What could we improve?
• If you could change one thing about OTS, what would it be?

Please reply to this email with your thoughts. I’ll compile the feedback and we’ll come together as a group to review and discuss it.

And the perk.

As you may know, our fundraising reception a few months back brought in over $100,000 from people who were new to OTS. That support helps us purchase household supplies, supplement furniture, and cover truck rentals.

Now, we’d like to host a Thank-You Reception — just for you. This will be a chance to celebrate the people who don’t just support the mission in words, but show up and make it happen.

We’ll share details soon and aim to find an evening that works for everyone.

Thank you again for everything you do. More to come soon.