Doors of Hope Presents "A Summer of Bounty"

Sometimes, all that is needed to help prevent a single mother or a struggling family from becoming homeless is a little help and a whole lot of hope, and Doors of Hope Transition Ministries is hoping the community will help them continue to provide both by supporting its second major fundraising event.
Doors of Hope Transition Ministries is working with notable food, flower, and visual artists to present “A Summer Bounty,” at 10 a.m. August 9 at the Overby Center Auditorium on the University of Mississippi campus. The funds raised from ticket sales and a live and silent auction will help homeless and at-risk families in Lafayette County who are trying to become self-sufficient.
The event will feature City Grocery Restaurant Group corporate chef Vishwesh Bhatt, cake designer Jeff Taylor of Sweet T’s Bakery, floral designer Natalie Hughes of Mimosa Flowers, Gifts & Gourmet, and portrait and still life painter Jason Bouldin.
The idea for the event came from Doors of Hope founder Sherry Williams-Jenkins, who shared her idea with the fundraising committee.
“I wanted to do something that wouldn’t duplicate what other nonprofits were doing, would be fun and attractive to others, and would reflect our Southern traditions,” Williams-Jenkins said.
The planning committee hopes to raise $20,000 to $25,000 during the event.
Bhatt will showcase his India-meets-Mississippi cookery, using goods from local farmers, Taylor will sculpt a special cake for the event, Hughes will give an instructive demonstration on making a distinctive, inventive floral arrangement, and Bouldin will create a floral painting during the demonstrations. Bhatt’s meal, Taylor’s cake, Hughes’s floral arrangement, and Bouldin’s painting, will be auctioned at the end of the program.
Additional items will also be auctioned. Vish Bhatt will prepare a dinner for six to be served at the studio of Jason Bouldin, who will provide an artistic memento of the occasion for the winning bidder. Mike Stewart, owner of internationally recognized Wildrose Kennels, will lead a tour of the beautiful 142-acre kennel grounds, give a dog demonstration, and serve a picnic for 20 featuring barbeque and trimmings. Artist Cindy Aune will offer a painting made with her distinctive style of using her fingers instead of brushes. Harry Sneed, a skilled woodworker, will make a folding table for the auction. Other items will include creations by local woodworkers, a silk arrangement by Janis Miller of Mimosa Flowers, Gifts & Gourmet, and pottery by celebrated ceramicists Ron Dale and Matt Long.
Tickets are $55 each for the program and auction. To order tickets, visit www.brownpapertickets.com and type “A Summer Bounty” on event line, e-mail doorsofhope@bellsouth.net, or call 662-234-1100.
Doors of Hope Transition Ministries (DOHTM) is a registered 501c3 nonprofit organization founded in June 2011 to help homeless and at-risk homeless families in Lafayette County toward self-reliance and stability through a holistic, individualized approach that includes life-skills training, mentoring, and supportive housing. DOHTM’s Self-Sufficiency Transitional Empowerment Program (STEP) seeks to preserve and strengthen the family unit so that members can become self-sufficient in the management of their family and finances. Families live in a furnished shelter unit, rent and utility free,  for four months while working and meeting regularly with a professional case manager who nurtures independence and prepares them to become self-sufficient contributing members of the community. The case manager assists the families in setting goals and learning and practicing skills to help them gain self-sufficiency and permanent housing. DOHTM uses other established programs and services in the community to help meet the needs of the families. Families in DOHTM work a rigorous four- to six-month program where they are required to work, pay debts, and save money, as well as learn and practice skills to become self-sufficient.
Doors of Hope has received grants from United Way, Walmart, the Oxford Bank Association, and Lafayette Oxford Foundation for Tomorrow (LOFT), an affiliate of CREATE Foundation, but most of its funding comes from contributions from individual donors, community churches, businesses, and service groups. Five area churches pledge annual donations—Christ Presbyterian, First Presbyterian, Oxford-University Methodist, St. John the Evangelist Catholic, and St. Peter’s Episcopal. An anonymous donor has generously donated the rent for the shelter units since the beginning of the program while Doors of Hope establishes funding within the community.
Donations can be made to Doors of Hope Transition Ministries, 924 Van Buren Avenue, Oxford, MS 38655. For additional information about the program, visit www.doorsofhopeoxford.org.