New Life House fundraising For improvements

MT. PLEASANT — The New Life House, a Christian women’s mission in Henry County, is looking to raise money for home improvements to their home for women escaping bad situations.

The money will either go to improvements at their current home or it will help rent a nicer home, according to the director of New Life House, Crystal Boulton.

The New Life House is set to hold the fundraising event July 15-17 starting at 7 p.m. at the Heatilator Performing Arts Center in Mt. Pleasant. The event will include a visual art show with art from Anita Swartzendruber, Curt Swarm (Empty Nest Art), Stacey Vroom and Crystal Boulton.

Art will be on sale and there for the show in the hallway outside of the Heatilator center, all proceeds from the event including ticket sales go to the mission. Tickets are $10 per admission, you can buy tickets ahead of time by emailing newlifehouseia@outlook.com.

The fundraiser will include the showing of three one-act play’s codirected by Pierre Gerrard and Allan Allsup. The pieces to be performed include “Child-Man” from Calvin Miller’s book “Symphony in Sand”; “Born Blind” by Alyn D’Blay, which happens to be the World Premiere of the production; and “Ragman” by Walter Wangerin Jr.

The mission is dedicated to helping women in tough situations, whether that be getting back on their feet after drug rehab or a halfway house to escape abusive situations.

The mission is aimed at guiding women, instead of trying to “fix” them, according to Boulton.

“We don’t try to fix them because ultimately they have to fix themselves. Instead we are a sounding board for them and guide and answer their questions,” Boulton said. “Even through my own experiences it’s good to have somebody to walk through a situation with you because otherwise it’s easy to give up.”

The productions are grouped together with the same theme, that you spend most of your life looking for the “light.”

Cast, crew, production and musicians include: Blair Buffington of Mt. Pleasant, Bradly Wood of Winfield, Lea McCormick from Mt. Pleasant, Connie Freyenberger of Wayland, Jake and Amber Gray of Mason City, Curt Swarm of Mt. Pleasant, AJ Albert of Winfield, Anita Swartzendruber of Wayland, Tosha Rhoades of Mt. Pleasant, Pierre Gerrard of Mt. Pleasant and Stacey Vroom of Mt. Pleasant.

Donations and assistance include Dan Snavely, PrintGroupUSA, IMPACT (Impacting Mt. Pleasant Arts and Culture Together), members of nine churches in the area and RSVP.