Praise God! September 1, 2004, the doors of Standing Tall Home for Girls were opened to receive their first residents after a long licensing process. The house immediately kicked into high gear after sitting idle for almost nine months waiting for the State of California to issue the license.
The entire process from the program development, Riverside County agency approvals, Fire Department clearances and State Licensing, took about two years. There were so many opportunities to give up, but God pushed us on through.
Within a few months the house was busy with girls, babies and staff. School bus schedules, doctor’s appointments and lots of shopping quickly became part of the weekly routine. Suddenly baby diapers, formulas, pizza and hotdogs were all on the same grocery list for both teen moms and their babies.
The staff stays busy monitoring and assisting moms and babies 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. We often have to escort some of our smaller residents (toddlers) out of the office area, in spite of their willingness to help pull out stuff.
I was very excited to review report cards after the girl’s first semester in the local High School, which has a Mom-Baby Program. The girls actually take the babies to school with them. They have two parenting classes and four other classes that are regular High School courses. Their progress was very significant in spite of some situations where they previously had not been attending school regularly. Our young moms are standing tall at STHFG.
We were blessed to acquire a 15-passenger van to transport the girls to appointments, recreational outings, family visits and special programs. This was just in time for the state budget cuts, that discontinued the school bus service in February. The residents are transported to church if they desire to go and in-house Bible Study is made available to them also.
We still face lots of challenges. Our biggest challenge facing us currently, is to take full possession of the 1.6 acres of property that we currently lease by January 2006. Our option to buy will need to be exercised by that date. We are looking at a sell price of $525,000 which includes all the property and the two houses sitting on the land.
Phase II of this vision is to establish an extension of the girl’s home in the second house, such as an Emancipation House for emancipating teen parents (18 years old) that still need a helping hand trying to get established in society.
Phase III of the vision is to build a church and educational facility on the top of the hill. Needless to say, we need your continued support and prayers. We need to come up with a 10% down payment before the year-end to meet the deadline. I know God is able. He has already done great things through his people and I have no reason to doubt him now. God bless you. |
