BEND, OR -- The Shepherd’s House is moving forward with plans to expand its homeless services to women and children. Gloria Hall is the new Director of Women and Children’s Ministry for the nonprofit and tells KBND they are in talks to purchase a large house to help women struggling with abuse, addiction and homelessness. "We are hoping that it gets off in the next couple of months. We’ve essentially been talking with more than 2,000 women since I got here at Thanksgiving. I love talking with people about my vision and that is to have a safe, healing environment where women and children can go and they can be changed from the inside out."
If current plans are approved and funded, she says the first facility would house nine women. "No children at this point, the city says only nine women. But, we’re trying to get an acre and a half right across from it, and we would be able to build a large building – as large as the city will let us. We want to house up to 40 women, plus children." She hopes the purchase of that first building will come through in the next month or two.
Hall moved to Central Oregon after launching similar programs in Portland and Seattle. She says this project is growing from the ground up. "I’ve been doing this over 27 years and this is the first time I’ve come to a place that I didn’t already have at least some building to get started in and some staff that could team up with me to help get this going. I’m very excited. I’ve been able to raise a little bit of money for staff and we’re in the process of trying to raise the funds for getting these buildings."
She will share her vision at a free event sponsored by Soroptimist International of Bend Thursday at noon, at the Des Chutes Historical Museum.
