House of Mercy Gala in Graham
House of Mercy Enterprises entertained a full house for barbecue, a silent auction, and testimonials from former and current residents at its sixth annual Gala at the Young County Arena in Graham.
The House of Mercy held the Gala on Sept. 16 in Graham to inform a wider audience of would-be donors and supporters about the Bible-based Christian human de- velopment program in Olney, director Preston Crow said. HOME currently serves about two dozen residents who come from all over Texas, and boasts a five-year success rate of 85 percent, Mr. Crow said.
The House of Mercy served more than 100 people recovering from addiction in 2022, he said.
Board member George Latham of Wichita Falls said he wished HOME had existed during the decades he struggled with addiction.
“When I was going through this there wasn’t anything like this,” he said. “Now it’s a lot better to get help for someone with a program like this because most addicts don’t have enough money to pay for this. Get them started, get them changing, and let God do the rest.”
He praised the program for allowing participants to bring their children and spouses to HOME during their oneyear residency.
“I think it brings family,” he said of the program. “I think it brings family. It brings different people together as a community where if one falls someone else is there to pick them up.”
The Gala allows HOME to showcase the work it does and to raise money to cover the costs of treating people who cannot pay for their treatment.
“I like being able to show the community what comes from it, what the people can do, how they’ve changed,” he said. “You wouldn’t know that some of these people were six months ago living on the streets, shooting dope. You wouldn’t know that.”
Board member Harrell Braddock Jr., pastor of United Methodist Church of Olney, said HOME has changed and grown from a former nursing home to temporary housing for transients to a Christian development center. “From the very beginning … I wanted [the building] as a shelter of some kind,” Pastor Braddock said. “We adopted out all the rooms and people refurbished them - churches did - so it’s been a passion of mine from the beginning. The main thing for me is I want to build relationships, and for the people there to know they are loved … and hopefully get their lives straightened out and move forward.”
Precinct 3 Commissioner Stacey Rogers said he and his wife Penny decided to attend the Gala for the first time after attending UMC alongside some HOME residents. Ron Rittenhouse, owner of Advantage Auto Sales in Wichita Falls, won the raffle for the Henry Golden Boy rifle but turned around and donated it back to HOME, Mr. Crow said. The rifle will be raffled off again as a Christman fundraiser, he said.