MOUNT VERNON – Place 4 Grace, a Knox County-based ministry committed to providing safe housing options and other services to unwed pregnant women in Knox County for the last six years, has been awarded a $60,000 reimbursement grant by The Christ Foundation.
The grant is payable over the next three years, with $30,000 eligible to be dispersed in 2023, $20,000 eligible to be dispersed in 2024 and $10,000 eligible to be dispersed in 2025. The grant will reimburse Place 4 Grace for expenses pertaining to the houseparent position(s).
The ministry announced the award of the grant at its annual Flannel Fest fundraising event held on Nov. 4 at Lakeholm Church of the Nazarene. Executive Director Kandee Popham outlined what the ministry still needs to accomplish to begin receiving the reimbursement. She said the ministry needs to raise $91,000 to finish out the 2022 year and the first quarter of 2023. This amount includes continuing to provide its current non-residential services, as well as, beginning to provide residential services within their Knox County home. Popham also said the ministry would need to hire the staff required to provide 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year, loving care for the mommas and babies they serve. See the entire presentation by visiting the ministry's Facebook page or this link, https://fb.watch/gHAmRTNhjt/.
The ministry is well on its way to meeting the achievable goal of beginning residential services Jan. 1, 2023, as its Flannel Fest fundraiser has raised over $39,600 so far.
“There is much to be done as the need for maternity housing is growing. Not only have we seen a greater need locally, others in our affiliate organization The National Maternity Housing Coalition are experiencing the increase as well. We must provide safety for those mommas and the lives they carry. We have been called to do it,” said co-founder and Executive Director Kandee Popham.
The ministry is inviting applicants to fill the houseparent(s) positions, as well as other support positions. Find more information about applying on the website place4grace.com. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the “Join the Family” button or reach out to Popham at 740-324-5244.
Find more about Place 4 Grace, apply to be a volunteer and find ways to support the ministry on that website as well.
Popham said that while the ministry would love nothing more than to begin housing women locally in January, it must raise the funds needed to provide for them, as well as have the staff in place to do so. Once those two things are accomplished, housing will begin in Knox County.
The board of directors, staff and volunteers invite others to check out what God is doing through this ministry. To learn more about Place 4 Grace maternity housing, contact Kandee Popham at Kandee@place4grace.com or 740-324-5244. You can also visit place4grace.com, our Facebook page at facebook.com/place4grace, or check us out on Instagram under place4grace.
