As Gail Priest sat on the porch swing of the old Stratford Nursing Home property last week, saws and power washers humming in the background, her excitement was contagious.
“I never thought we’d have 30 people working on the property at the same time,” Priest said.
Priest and her husband, Mike, are the co-founders of the Ninety-Nine + ONE Foundation, which acquired the Stratford property last fall with the intention of remodeling the 14,000 square-foot facility into apartments for youth aging out of foster care, at-risk women and children, and widows in crisis.
But with limited funds and a long list of required renovations, progress has been slow.
The property had sat empty for more than a decade before it was donated to the foundation, and everything from plumbing and electrical systems to heat and air and the fire suppression system needed to be replaced.
“It’s such a big project,” Priest said.
But the enormity of the task was recently alleviated by a large financial donation that will help complete the project. The financial assistance has kicked the project into overdrive.
“I called our contractor and said, ‘Let’s get to work!’” Priest said.” So now, we are in the process of getting everything done. It’s really happening quick. It’s going to look totally different out here in the next couple of weeks.”
Crews have been painting the exterior of the building as drywall has been going up inside.
And some of the construction help has come from unlikely sources.
Priest said an Amish community in Ohio heard about the project through a mutual connection.
“They contacted us and basically asked how they could help,” Priest said.
The Ohio community sent a six-man work crew to Stratford to help with construction, framing, and drywall last week. The crew set to work framing interior walls and hanging drywall in a small building behind the facility that will serve as a residence for the house parents.
“They are amazing,” Priest said. “They had the house framed and sheet rocked in just three days.”
And the community has rallied around the project, too. Priest said churches from Stratford and Ada volunteered to feed crews working on the home last week, and others have reached out to ask what additional help might be needed.
“I really want the community to feel they are a part of the ministry here, because they are,” Priest said.
The Ninety-Nine + ONE Foundation already has five young women waiting to move into the facility, which Priest said she anticipates will be completed by the end of the year or the first of 2023. Those young women are currently staying in a temporary transition house on another property owned by the foundation, Priest said.
Once completed, the property will include hotel-style dorms with a microwave, refrigerator, bed, couch and bathroom, as well as common spaces like a computer room, instruction room and kitchen, and public spaces including a coffee shop and farmer’s market run by the residents.
Residents will not only receive a safe place to stay, but also social services as needed such as parenting classes, counseling, skilled labor classes, life skills training, driver’s licenses and GED classes.
The facility will have a security system and live-in house parents and interns.
“We’re just trying to keep momentum while we’ve got it,” Priest said. “I’m just overwhelmed by people’s generosity. I think people are looking for a way to give back after everything we’ve been through in the last two years. They’re looking to have some meaning in life, I think. That’s what I’m sensing anyway, is that people are just ready.”
She anticipates operating costs will be the next hurdle, once the facility is opened, but said has faith in whatever God has planned.
“God is handling it. I’m not worried about it,” Priest said.
The foundation is not accepting clothing and item donations at this time due to storage constraints, but monetary donations can be made on the foundation’s website at ninety-9plus1.com.
For more information about the Ninety-Nine + ONE ministries, email info@ninety9plus1.com.
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