Reading the Bible and news accounts, Mike Gibbons of New Lenox was struck with the need to help single women through crisis pregnancies.
The biblical exhortation, “Build for me a house of refuge,” flashed into Gibbons’ mind, and the idea for Shepherd’s House started to grow.
When it opens, the nearly completed Shepherd’s House will offer shelter, support and education to single pregnant women, 18 and older.
The goal, said Alyce Meissler of East Hazel Crest, one of the houseparents, is to offer pregnant single women support with the message: “We’ll take care of you. We’ll meet your needs, so you don’t have to have an abortion.”
Construction work is focusing on the interior of the house right now, and an opening date depends on getting all the resources together, said Gibbons’ wife, Marilyn.
“We could open tomorrow if we had enough money,” she said.
With construction on a pay-as-you-go basis, the project has been a slow but steady process. But Meissler and Marilyn Gibbons see a divine providence behind the helping hands that have come their way.
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Architect Chuck Smith donated his talents, and a church member’s father, who is in the excavation business, dug the foundation.
A roofer showed his gratitude for a good business year by donating the labor and material to put Shepherd’s House under roof, and a plumber donated his work.
The house, a two-story blue frame structure with white trim and a broad veranda across the front, looks like a small-town dream home, complete with porch swing.
The land on Cedar Road where Shepherd’s House was built, is leased from Christ’s Mission Lutheran Church.