By Paula Day

Interfaith Outreach Home for families needing some time and space to get their feet on the ground is perched on an incline on Buford Highway behind Advent Lutheran Church.

Behind the brick and colonial blue façade is a two-story residence for 10 families needing transitional housing. For each family there will be a private unit made up of a kitchen, bath and two rooms, all furnished. Common rooms will include a foyer, offices, a day care area for children and adult recreation room. Construction is expected to be completed in October with a dedication prayer service likely in December.

Sister Carolyn Oberkirch, RSM, president of the home’s board of directors, said a number of churches of all denominations have “adopted” rooms in the home to furnish them. This continues the effort of more than 30 churches in the Chamblee, Doraville, Dunwoody area who cooperated in the project. Our Lady of Assumption and All Saints Catholic churches as well as Lutheran, Presbyterian, Disciples of Christ, Methodist and Baptist congregations undertook to raise the $325,000 to finance construction. To date $304,000 has been collected.

The project was a result of an interfaith group that met to share prayer and ideas for ministry seven years ago. Aware that most shelters are gender-based and so separate families, the group decided to provide housing to remedy this. Families who need this assistance include people with a crisis who need to recover financial stability and those who may be earning day wages which force them to live in motels and kitchenette units and pay on a day-to-day basis, Sister Oberkirch said.

Interfaith Outreach Home will be a place where families can stay for several months, break the cycle of living financially from day to day, and move into apartments or homes once they’ve saved enough. Planners envision a variety of supportive programs, including employment counseling, budgeting aid, adult education, and on-site day care for children while parents work.

Ms. Magretta Martin, hired in mid-July as the home’s director, has a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and a master’s degree in pastoral counseling. This will come in handy Sister Oberkirch pointed out, since a sizeable Hispanic population has settled in the Buford Highway area.