header blogs

Blogs

New year, new look, new website!

by | Jan 18, 2022 | , ,

Last year we began a strategic planning process that changed the way we look at our organization, who we are and where we are going. We took time to look inside ourselves to answer the question: What is the big dream we share for our organization and for the people we...

Donor Spotlight: Carole Neag

by | Aug 27, 2021 | , , ,

How did you get involved with Opportunity House? My late husband Ray and I have been involved for two decades. We were drawn to the organization when we saw what good things were being done to help adults and children in Berks County. Everything Opportunity House does...

From Homelessness to Homeowners

by | Jun 25, 2019 | ,

Several years ago, their eyes locked across the garden area where our clients relax. Kevin had arrived at the shelter first; Monica, a month later. It was love at first sight, and their feelings were definitely not encouraged. “You’re not supposed to date here,”...

Spotlight on a Long Time Donor: Quaker Maid Meats

by | Jun 15, 2019 | ,

“We live here, we give here.” —Serge Szortyka, President, Quaker Maid Meats How and when did Quaker Maid get involved with Opportunity House? We’ve been donors since 1995, when your organization was still The Reading Berks Emergency Shelter. We wanted to help a local...

Volunteer Spotlight Jennifer Dinatally

by | Jun 6, 2019 | ,

When did you start to volunteer at OppHouse? I (Jennifer Dinatally) started to think about doing “something” in the community 6 or 7 years ago. Because I love to cook, and food is love to me, I really felt pulled to serve meals here. I finally stopped procrastinating...

What Opportunity House Does for Vets

by | Nov 26, 2018 | ,

The world had seemingly given up on Scott, a Navy veteran. But with your help, this vet built a new life from scratch: a rewarding job, his own little place, and a meaningful, productive life. After a normal life and 20 years of full-time employment in warehouse work,...

Client Profile: John Grundowski

by | Jan 21, 2016 |

John Grundowski, age 54, is a lifelong resident of Berks County. At the age of 9, Grundowski and his eight siblings lost their mother to cancer, and he and his youngest brother spent the rest of their childhood in foster homes and child care. Grundowski attended both...

Volunteer Spotlight: Santo Ferrarello

by | Jan 14, 2016 |

Santo Ferrarello was born in Sicily, Italy and moved to America in 1954 when he was seven. He describes himself as a "city kid from Philadelphia." In 1972, Santo moved to Reading to work for Gilbert Associates, which is now Worley Parsons on Route 10. It was here that...

SUCCESS STORY

Homeless Vet Makes No Excuses

Be honest with yourself and make no excuses. That’s the motto former Air Force intelligence analyst and former homeless Veteran SRA Davis* lives by every day. She credits her military training for shaping her personal accountability philosophy throughout her life. As the daughter and granddaughter of Veterans, a military career appealed to her for the […]

Read MoreMore Stories