A Birmingham-area nonprofit broke ground Tuesday on a $4.5 million expansion that will expand Grace House Ministries’ ability to serve girls in foster care.
The organization, founded in 1992, has a Fairfield campus made of historic houses, a budding garden with pink picnic tables and a small red brick school. The expansion will increase educational space in the Grace House Campus School, will add two transitional living program homes for girls on track to age out of foster care and will create a central hub for campus activities.
“We believe that the more girls that we can serve, the more girls that can go out into the community to make a difference,” Pamela Reed Phipps, executive director of Grace House Ministries, told AL.com.
In Alabama, there are approximately 6,000 children in foster care, according to the Alabama Department of Human Resources. According to recent reports, hundreds of young adults in the state each year age out of foster care; those people were less likely to have health insurance, employment, be enrolled in postsecondary institutions or have a high school diploma compared to the national average.
If her girls don’t have a safe and stable place to live, Phipps said, they would often otherwise be at risk.
“Apart from our girls receiving these services here at Grace House, they would be seen as statistics. They would be subject to teen pregnancy. They would be subject to homelessness, sex trafficking, cycling through the criminal justice system or just going back into that cycle of poverty. Our goal is to break that cycle because they are part of the family.”
Grace House has served more than 700 girls and works with the Alabama Department of Human Resources to determine who would benefit most from the nonprofit’s services. Many of the girls grew up in dire circumstances, but have thrived at Grace House, staff and alumna say.
“I grew up in foster care due to unequipped parents. I was first introduced to Grace House Ministries in the eighth grade. I was very nervous and anxious about my future here at Grace House,” Raine Jones, a Grace House alumna, said. “However, through my experience, I developed a good work ethic, personal skills, daily living skills, and most importantly, a great relationship with God.”
Jones earned her bachelor’s degree in social work, works as a social worker and counsels individuals through addiction recovery.
“Every girl is in DHR’s custody because they have been removed from their homes due to abandonment, neglect or abuse,” Phipps said. “Everytime they are removed from their home, that is a level of trauma. But Grace House exists to close those gaps and give the girls an opportunity.”
Grace House was founded by 69-year-old “Mama” Lois Coleman. She opened her doors to eight children and grew the ministry for decades. A photo of Coleman and her initial fostered children still sits on a table in the entrance of one of the homes.
Grace House currently houses 40 girls. The campus consists of 13 properties, with three being youth program group homes for ages 6 to 18 and two being transitional living homes for ages 16 to 19.
Grace House provides educational, social skills, financial literacy, career and job readiness classes. Counselors teach the girls conflict resolution skills, interviewing skills, how to create a resume and how to drive. They get regular counseling sessions, as well as extracurriculars and volunteer opportunities.
Phipps said 11 of the Grace House girls are in higher education programs.
“These are future mothers, workers, educators. I was just talking to one of our former girls, and she’s a school teacher now. She broke the cycle and that is a product of Grace House,” Phipps said.
“Our girls are not a burden on society. These are precious girls, who, through no fault of their own, are in foster care, and they just need an opportunity. They are productive citizens. They are community leaders.”
