Our House is one of Lismore's most loved projects, it has changed the lives of so many people since it opened its doors in December 2012.

Tonight, the Board, the staff, the volunteers and the donors, both in time and money, will get together to celebrate 10 years helping and serving not only the Lismore community but communities all over the Northern Rivers and beyond.

Our House's actual 10th birthday was December 7 2022, however, a new COVID outbreak and the end of the year following the biggest flood on record meant celebrations would have to be delayed. Now, is the time to crack open the champagne and celebrate a huge milestone.

(Brian Henry, Ruth Harrison and Rebekka Battista have toast on the actual 10th birthday of Our House, December 7 2022)

Tireless Our Kids Charity Fundraiser Coordinator Rebekka Battista has been involved in the Hour House project for the entire 10 years.

"It doesn't feel like it's been a decade. I feel like the project has been long-standing because when we first started Our House, we actually started it in a meeting of Our Kids. It started with a thought when someone said, "I think we need accommodation for our parents. That was in 2005," Rebekka explained.

Once the decision was made to build Our House, funding was the starting point.

"We originally got $3.6 million from the federal government that Janelle Saffin secured as the Federal Member, the state government gave us half a million and the NSW Cancer Council gave us another half a million. Our role was to then raise another million dollars from the community which literally came within 18 months."

"Once the funding was secured, it kind of just popped up, if that makes sense."

Over the 10 years, Our House has housed over 10,000 people at a rate of about 1,000 per year.

For those that are not too familiar with Our House, it provides accommodation for people for a variety of reasons. If a child or partner has cancer and is getting treatment at Lismore Base Hospital (the central hospital for the Northern Rivers) the parents or wife/husband/partner can stay for a nominal fee. If someone needs a medical procedure and lives in Grafton or Tenterfield with no relatives in Lismore or close by or a holidaymaker has an accident, there is accommodation at Our House.

It is a user-pays system at $110 per night. Part of that can be paid by the government's Isolated Payment Scheme which means you are over 100kms from home, the Regional Accommodation Providers Group recently got that payment increased.

There is a Hardship Fund, which people can donate to, kind of like paying it forward. Rebekka said they even have guests who pay it forward for other guests so that when it is difficult to make up the difference, they can apply for assistance.

"We also have a project called Our House Beautiful," Rebekka said, "People can donate items that need to be replaced over time. Like recently we replaced all the beds, that was done through our annual Dry July campaign. We have new TV's so people have access to Netflix."

(Just one of the comfortable rooms at Our House)

"We just feel like we are stewards of the community. Everyone who gave their time gave well above what was promised even the builders. So, when you go into the rooms, it is beautiful with good quality craftsmanship and good quality furnishings."

"It is important to understand that this is not just a motel. This becomes part of someone's cancer journey or their medical journey and what we have found was that people started to take ownership and so they keep giving to keep making it beautiful."

Another way the community gives to Our House and not in a financial sense is through food.

Every Tuesday and Thursday night different groups home-cook meals for anyone staying in the Our House rooms.

(A home-cooked meal every Tuesday and Thursday at Our House to all guests)

"This community group can be a service group, it could be a group of friends, it could be a workplace or a school. Quite a combination of people come in to cook all the guests a meal. It's probably been the most significant community project in Our House because the guests are amazed that someone would actually do that. And the feedback is that the experience is so humbling to be able to cook for someone and sit down with them, it is very grounding."

The list of donors and people on call to help in an emergency is not short.

"We are just so lucky. If something goes wrong with the plumbing, we have people we can call who will be there quickly to fix the problem."

There are a number of businesses that give generously to Our House, they are worthy of mention:

• James Frizelle Charitable Foundation has been paying for accommodation bills and the cost of the special care mums who stay there.
• O'Brien's
• Peter Gow
• Cav's Security
• Southern Cross Hygiene
• La Barracca
• Volunteers who maintain the gardens

The final word from Rebekka to all those generous, bighearted people who have helped Our House become the leading medical support facility it has is, "On behalf of all the guests who stay at our house. Thank you to everybody who helps us be able to do what we do here because we couldn't do without you. We couldn't provide the level of service and the level of accommodation to everyone coming to Lismore for medical care without them."

Congratulations to everyone who has contributed to this wonderful project. Enjoy the 10 year birthday celebrations and may there be many more.