Local Houston Celebrities Dance for Halo House: Houstonians compete to win and give generously as part of Halo House’s “Dancing for a Cause”

Chita Johnson

The hit TV reality show “Dancing with the Stars” has its allure, but the Houston Stars outshone their Hollywood counterparts during the 2nd annual Halo House Foundation “Houston Stars -Dancing for a Cause.” The gala was held at the Houston Royal Sonesta Hotel on Saturday, October 20. Next year’s event already has several Houston glitterati clamoring for a chance to dance!

Pat, Becca Clinch, Nathan Fowler

Nearly 600 guests helped raise over $200,000 for the Halo House Foundation, a Houston-based nonprofit, which makes furnished apartments available – for $20 a day – to people diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma, who come from out of town for treatment at the Texas Medical Center.

Tommie Burks and Frida Dillenbeck

Although it was a very tough decision for celebrity judges Evelyn Leightman, James Harren, Lori Freese, and Olga Johnson, the “2012 Judges’ Choice” award went to Chita Johnson and her partner Lance Estridge.2The “2012 People’s Choice Award” went to Dale Tyczkowski and his partner Marietta Johnson. Dale also won the ‘Brightest Star Award” for the most online votes.

Dale Tyzkowski and Marietta Johnson

“Halo House has provided over 2,500 days of housing to cancer patients since it’s opening,” said Kathleen Fowler, Executive Director of the Halo House Foundation. “Many of these people would not be able to get treatment without an affordable place to stay near the Texas Medical Center. Our long-term goal is to build our own apartment complex in 2015. With the help of the community, we believe it can happen. The dancing stars efforts here today will get these apartments ready and help educate the community about the critical need.”

Rounding out the star dancer list were notable movers and shakers: Kat Cosley, Jo Furr, Patti Gras, James Rodriguez, Jared Lang, Chita Johnson, and Lynn Lumsden. The see and be seen event brought out notable socials: Jo and Jim Furr, Uchenna Agu, Andy Cerota, Sonia Azad, and Angie and Dr. Nathan Fowler.

Kathleen Fowler kicked off the $6,400,000 capital campaign to raise funds for the 20 unit complex which will be a sanctuary of healing, meditation, education, fitness, and community while providing privacy and independence for residents.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Halo House Foundation or volunteer opportunities please visit www.halohousefoundation.org

For more pictures of the event please visit http://killy.zenfolio.com/halohousegala2012

“Meet the Stars” Gala Kick-off at the Omni

Halo House Foundation hosted it’s kick-off reception for “Houston Stars: Dancing for a Cause” on Thursday, June 28, 2012, with food and coctails generously provided by the Omni Hotel on Riverway.

Did you ever want to pick the winner on Dancing with the Stars? Then join us for an evening where your vote truly counts! “Houston Stars: Dancing for a Cause” will be an evening of great food, libations, wonderful people and exciting entertainment! You may even win fabulous prizes at the live and silent auctions. And your having fun with us will help provide housing to cancer patients.

Here are some of this year’s (2012) Stars:

Dale Tyczkowski Owner, Dalek Interiors	Kat Cosley LiveWell Network Host	Patti Gras Senior Producer, PBS
James Rodriguez Houston City Councilman	Jared Lang GM, Momentum Audi	Chita Johnson Meteorologist, KHOU
Dr. Linus Lerner Artistic Director, BCPA	Lynn Lumsden VP, Prism Electric	Jo Furr Retired Educator & Community Volunteer

This year’s professional dance coaches:

Marietta Johnson Fred Astaire River Oaks	Cristiano Callegari Dance with Stars Academy	Katia Kutnetsova Dance with Stars Academy
Enzo Zappia The Dance Place	Lorin Jiminez D’Amico Dance Studio	Suneth Jayamanna
William Ashworth The Dance Place	Lance Estridge	Laura Balmaceda Affinity Ballroom

As of June 15, 2012, Halo House has provided over 1,800 days of housing to cancer patients, and we recently added two new apartments. We had about 30 wonderful volunteers helped us set up two new “home-away-from-home” Halo House apartments, bringing our total number up to six. Some of our wonderful “Moving Day” helpers are pictured below.

Thanks to all of you who came out on June 7TH, 2012 to join us at one of the “Newest” Potbelly’s Sandwich Shop located in West U. And thanks to the good people at Potbelly for helping us make life easier for people with leaukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma.

Where: 5800 Kirby Drive
West University Place, TX 77005

A special thanks to all the good people that volunteered for the Woodland’s Ironman on May 19 as part of the Halo House team.

As “bike handlers” we were there to take the athlete’s bikes as they transitioned from their 112 mile bike course and headed off to their 26.2 mile run. We were hot and tired but inspired by these amazing athletes from all over the world who proved that time after time we can accomplish what seems to be the impossible.

The Halo House Foundation held its first big fundraising event at the InterContinental near the Galleria with 375 people in attendance. After two championship junior couples hit the dance floor, six

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fabulous teams of dancers competed for three awards. Evelyn Leightman, President of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and Corky Ballas with ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” selected Lori Freese (Publisher, Dish.Houston.com) and her partner Cristiano Callegari (Dance With Stars Studio) as their top choice. Who else won? See below and check out our STARS!

Watch The 1st annual “Houston Stars: Dancing for a Cause” Video here .

Many thanks to the generous sponsors of this event

Celgene Corporation – Constellation Sponsor
Genentech – Constellation Sponsor
Brent and Kelley Southwell – Solar System Sponsor
Employee Benefit Solutions – Solar System Sponsor
Macquarie Energy – Solar System Sponsor
Millennium Pharmaceuticals – Solar System Sponsor
Thomas Burke, MD – Nova Sponsor
Gerald and Pat Clinch – Nova Sponsor

Please help us to provide support to the many business who donated items for our auction.

About 20 passengers sat cheerfully in a bus Saturday, September 17, but not a single one of them knew exactly where they were going or what they would be doing once they arrived.

Th

e Do Good Bus is a charity organization that was founded in Los Angeles by Stephen Snedden and Rebecca Pontius and has partnered with the band, Foster the People. Their mission is to give first-time volunteers an easy way in to charity work, and to expose them to local organizations that can use their help.

The crew from the bus worked alongside the Halo House volunteers for over 5 hours moving and setting up furniture, unpacking kitchen items, and hanging pictures. One family from Louisiana, and one from Mississippi moved in just days later!

The finished product:

http://dogoodbus.com/
Do-Good Bus charity tour makes stop in Houston