Shiloh Home of Hope for Women and its parent organization, Family Life Services, are picking up steam — in support, in clients and in programs.
The home for women materialized in 2007, when the long-established Family Life Services moved into the former home of Galen and Beth Miller. Miller had operated his orthodontic practice in a portion of the building at 605 Congress St., before the family moved out of state.
The Millers built their home with a thought to incorporating a ministry there one day. The Shiloh concept was a good fit for their intentions, and they were willing to sell the house at a substantially reduced price as their contribution to the planned project.
Shiloh supporters raised $45,000 in about two months to meet the down payment agreement, and moved in, paying rent until they were established well enough to warrant getting a mortgage on the remainder of the debt. The group hired Carol and Lee Alderman as houseparents.
Support from community churches and organizations, as well as individuals, made the mortgage possible late last year, and Shiloh’s own fundraising events have contributed substantially to the cause.
FLS director Cindy Rhudy said that, counting pledges, Shiloh raised about $3,500 Friday night through a benefit concert by pianist Robyn Meahl. The money will be used to support the home for pregnant women, which occupies the upper levels of the large brick-and-rock home.
In addition to spacious bedrooms that can accommodate a double bed, bunk or twin beds, and a crib, as needed, the upstairs area includes a kitchenette where clients can prepare meals, a library with appropriate books for children and mothers, and a comfortable parlor where they can socialize or entertain guests.
As of this week, only Ashley Ladd and her daughter, three-month-old Esther Grace, were living in Shiloh. Two other applications are under review, Rhudy said, and a third young woman is working on an application.
Ladd is beginning the CNA course at Flint Hills Technical College, and plans to go on to become a licensed practical nurse.
The room and board Shiloh provides is a plus for Ladd but, she said, Shiloh has given her something more important than food and housing.
“More than that, it’s more I get the spiritual aspect of it and the accountability,” Ladd said. “I’m learning to be the best mom I can be.”
FLS offices are located on the lower level, where generous-sized rooms provide plenty of space for the children’s boutique, stores of diapers, counseling and other services.
Family Life Services provides pregnancy-related counseling to help the young women make decisions, but does not give advice on birth control.
“What we try to do is help them look at a better lifestyle,” Rhudy said.
The number of FLS clients has doubled since the organization moved to its new quarters, Rhudy said. It previously was housed in a basement office on Commercial Street, where access and space were limited.
With the increased clientele has come an increase in the number of volunteers who work with the group.
Eight of the clients volunteer regularly at Family Life and at Shiloh, sorting out clothing for the baby boutique, helping with office tasks or generally assisting in helping both operations run smoothly.
“Instead of pay, they get diapers,” Rhudy said.
The boutique is open from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays; on those days, as well as on Wednesdays, clients also can receive life coaching and counseling.
“They come in for their life coaching and pick up diapers and just hang out,” Rhudy said.
The life coaching is open to both young men and women who want to improve both their life skills and their parenting skills, as well as set goals for themselves and their children and develop plans to reach them, she said.
“We need to challenge these young people to get a vision for their lives,” she said. “... Young people think, ‘I’m going to live forever.’ Before you know it, you’re facing middle age.”
The sessions provide practical support with a curriculum that is not gender-specific. Although mothers and fathers are welcome to attend sessions together, most often coaching is done in separate sessions.
“In fact, there are very few of them who come in who are team players,” Rhudy said.
Counseling also is becoming available through the more intensive Transformational Life Coaching program, which is open to the public. The hour and a half weekly sessions are for people who “become aware of patterns in their lives that either are not working or are destructive,” said Rhudy, who is a certified coach and training for the TLC method. “We believe people behave what they believe at the lowest level.”
TLC is intended to help clients remedy those attitudes towards themselves and the behaviors that can result.
“A person doesn’t have to be a Christian to benefit from TLC, but they need to be open to those principals,” she said.
The ministry also has included expanding its home-based mission to include housing pregnant young women under the age of 18. Because of state law, that age group must be housed in a separate home, rather than with the over-18 mothers. The change is part of Shiloh’s five-year plan, Rhudy said.
Until that can be accomplished, the ministry will continue to develop the Shiloh house, where the young mothers are required to make a six-month commitment to stay, with a maximum stay of 18 months.
Upstairs and downstairs at the new location, the rooms are comfortable and welcoming, reflecting the spirit of the home it was.
“Now I feel like we have a place that reflects to them that they are valuable,” Rhudy said.
Shiloh and FLS clients alike can use the wellness and game center, an area filled with exercise machines, sports and game equipment and tables, and toys for the children. Shiloh board president Jennifer Benjamin will add “holy yoga” classes for clients and the public on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and evenings.
Outside, north of the property, is an oversized garden that supplies food for Shiloh residents and FLS clients, with enough produce left over to sell at the Farmers Market to raise funds. Seedlings that provide plants throughout the house and the garden are started in a greenhouse on the south side of the home.