Our Story

Sometimes things just work out.  House on the Hill began out of a church mission in Mississippi to Ghana, West Africa.  The mission was to develop education, housing and food sources as well as economic opportunities for the families and individuals in Bole, Ghana.  After several trips and meetings, the plan was laid and the leadership suggested incorporating as a nonprofit to seek grants, support and NGO status in country.  At the same time we received our Determination Letter, our Board Chair, at the time and founding Board Member, Joel and his family, moved back to Bowling Green, Kentucky.  Not long after, the country became embroiled in the discover of oil on the coast and gold in the interior.  While it was already relatively unsafe for teams to travel through the country on the 10 hour trek to Bole, it became more dangerous with the upheaval.  Our partners in country waved us off for several months that turned into years.

​

With the move back to Bowling Green, Kentucky from Mississippi, it was decided to continue to report each year, establish a presence in Kentucky and wait to see if Ghana opened to us again.  In 2020, a group of Crossland Community Church began a partnership with Helping Hands: Kids Helping Kids out of Chattanooga, TN.  The purpose of Helping Hands was to recover packaged foods from the school cafeteria, each day, students were not eating.  These foods would be safely stored till the end of the week on Friday and then bagged up with other donated canned and non-perishable foods and fresh produce for children who were in need to take home.

​

The day before the program was to begin its pilot in Bowling Green, the schools announced their closing for COVID-19 and the start of the pandemic.  We decided to allow the pilot schools to disperse the collected food to the families who needed it most.  When it became apparent this pandemic would not be short lived, a second group formed to discuss how to get food to families and children who weren't going to work and school and who were already food insecure.  Needing to take donations and transport food, House on the Hill began operating in Bowling Green in 2021.  We borrowed a vacant store front and used donated boxes and food items.  The same mission of providing food and housing as well as educating people but this time on household budgets and employment opportunities became our vision.  In February 2021, we provided around 150 food boxes to the local school districts.  In 2023, we opened The Grocery, a free, client-choice, shopping experience in Warren County in the city of Richardsville. By 2023, we were serving close to 350 families.  In October of 2023, we piloted our Guesthouse program, a one-year, transitional housing program to help households budget, gain employment, pay down and payoff debt with the main goal of stabilizing and being prepared to cover all their own housing expenses by the end of the year.  In 2025, we began a partnership with the Realtors Association of Southern Kentucky and began helping them serve counties outside Warren County with food including Allen, Simpson, Logan, Butler, Barren, Edmonson and Hart counties.  In 2026, we marked 5 years of service in Bowling Green and Warren County and in the surrounding counties serving close to 800 households for a total of close to 3000 individuals each month or 36,000 people each year.

​

We mobilized The Grocery program with the Grocery Truck and have 9 locations in Warren and Edmonson counties with 4 more locations planned in Warren county.  Our vision is to move into the surrounding counties with the mobile grocery program in the coming years.  To-date the Food Programs at House on the Hill have provided over 3,000,000 meals in our community.  The Guesthouse program has helped house over 18 households totaling over 40 people since 2023 and currently has 9 units.  The vision is for 24 Guesthouse units and 48 affordable housing units in the next two years.  Our dream for our first 100 home affordable housing development is still part of our vision as is owning all 24 Guesthouse and all 48 affordable housing units in the next 5 years.

​

We are a small nonprofit doing big things in our community.  Check out our Partner Page and get involved through our Volunteer Page.