Serving in her sixth year on the board of the Family House, Heather Bolt Mikeal, Board Chair, has a personal connection to the Family House. When her cousin was in a bad car accident in 2014, she was airlifted from Heather’s hometown of Hillsville, Virginia, to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist in Winston-Salem. Family members rotated through Heather’s home while they anxiously awaited her cousin’s recovery. “I was like the Family House for my family,” Heather recounts as she shares about the numerous family members who stayed in her home in Winston-Salem.

“Not everyone has a niece they can stay with. That’s what I tell people, and it really starts to sink in for them just how important the Family House is. It can be that home away from home for people. Everything is taken care of. There are meals, shuttle transportation, and volunteers to lend a helping hand or listening ear.”

Heather has enjoyed attending previous Men Who Cook events, even hosting a private dining experience in her backyard when the pandemic changed plans for the event in 2020. She’s looking forward to another wonderful year of Men Who Cook, her favorite non-profit event of the year. “I’ve been to a lot of nonprofit events, and I can say for sure that ours is the most fun. It’s a great time to socialize and, most importantly, our biggest fundraiser of the year. It shows you how important hospitality is to the fabric of Winston-Salem, and the Family House is such a good example of that.”