A women’s recovery home in Keizer is undergoing renovation to lodge around 40 new residents.
Simonka Place, run by the Union Gospel Mission of Salem, is undertaking a $3,000,000 expansion to accommodate more women and children in need.
“The rate of women in homelessness and women with children in homelessness is growing,” said Mark Hunter, the facility’s director of community engagement. “The primary goal of this expansion is to create more family space, where women and children can have their own space.”
The renovation, handled by CD Redding Construction, will add more office space, family rooms and a child development center.
“And then we’re doing a lot of structural stuff,” Hunter said. “It is an old building, 65 years old, so we want to make sure that we get new things like HVAC, remodeling the floors…just brighten it up a little bit.”
Simonka Place, at 5119 River Road N., will remodel the existing space for family rooms. Along with women, the residence accommodates children up to 17 years old.
“We have families there now, and oftentimes, they share a room with another family that they don’t know. That creates a whole dynamic challenge to raising your own children,” Hunter said.
Once the project is complete, each family will have their own room, fitted with private bathrooms.
With the new child development center, mothers can engage with the facility’s programs without worrying about child care.
“The center is being designed to provide a place for kids while their moms are in these programs and counseling services,” Hunter said.
During the day, the space will serve as a nursery. Infants and toddlers will be supervised, and their mothers will attend classes. In the late afternoon, Hunter said the space will resemble an after-school program.
The project will also add 750 square feet of office space for the facility’s 16 employees.
Simonka Place still has $500,000 to fundraise.
“We’ve raised $2.5 million, and we are going before donors for that,” Hunter said. “So we still have a ways to go…but the board had enough in place to go ahead and start the project.”
Hunter said that fundraising relied on private donors. He mentioned Marion County as a major supporter.
The project, set to finish in April next year, enables Simonka Place to focus on its New Life Fellowship program, Hunter said. Throughout the 12- to 15-month program, their website reads, “participants stabilize, challenge false beliefs, and learn to walk in a Christlike way.”
Simonka Place currently hosts around 50 people. After the expansion, the facility will be able to host 94 people.
“It’s not a huge increase in beds, and we recognize that, but the focus is on those family rooms and providing space for moms with kids,” Hunter said.
Simonka Place opened in 1968 as a part of the Union Gospel Mission – a Christian ministry that serves those in homelessness, poverty, and addiction in the Northwest. According to its website, Simonka Place is “dedicated to the holistic care of women and children.
News tip? Contact reporter Riley Ellis: [email protected].
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