One House at a Time—or as we call it for short, OHAAT [oh-hat]—was formed in 1998 in Ambler as a furniture bank. Two industrious women equipped with a station wagon delivered donations of furniture and household items to low-income fire and flood victims referred by the American Red Cross. In 2001 our ad hoc furniture bank became an official corporation with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, and a supplementary program called Beds for Kids was created to provide new beds and bedding to children and youth. Over the next ten years, we gradually expanded operations. We brought on additional referral partners and volunteer organizations, we purchased a 16-foot box truck to facilitate transportation, and we moved into a 1,600 SF storage facility donated by Gloria Dei Church. By 2011 we were furnishing over 200 homes each year.
In 2011 OHAAT’s Board of Directors made a major organizational change. They phased out the furniture bank in order to focus all efforts on the Beds for Kids program. The board felt that Beds for Kids addressed a more critical need, and by narrowing focus, we would be able to improve and expand the program. Since this decision, Beds for Kids has grown from serving 350 children and youth each year to over 2,100. We also moved operations to a warehouse in Huntingdon Valley. The program includes more than just beds and bedding. We now provide tools that encourage healthy bedtime habits, like books and toothbrushes, as well as sleep education, which has been proven to increase the amount of sleep that children receive each night. We’ve also joined the fight against bed bugs by switching to an entirely bed bug resistant bed and providing vital information that can help families prevent and treat infestations.
2023 was a huge year for OHAAT! We celebrated the 25th anniversary of the organization, replaced our old box truck with a newer model, completed a third sleep study in partnership with CHOP and St. Joseph’s University, and delivered 2,107 beds--the highest number of beds ever delivered in a single year! Working in partnership with our funders and volunteers, OHAAT has provided comfort, warmth, and hope to over 15,000 children in need over the past 25 years, and will continue to work towards ending child bedlessness.