Hillsboro shelter for

young moms starts efforts

for Beaverton locale

By JOHN FORTMEYER
CNNW publisher
     HILLSBORO — With its founding location in the Orenco area here looking increasingly insecure, a Christian shelter facility for young pregnant women is this month launching a vigorous fundraising effort for a move to Beaverton.
     Known for the past three years as Saint Child, the outeach was begun in the mid-1990s by Jeff and Jeannie Kramer as The House of Ruth. It is housed in the historic century-old Victorian-style McDonald House leased by the Hillsboro Elks Lodge on the former site of the Orenco Woods Golf Course. Over the years it has provided housing and support to 105 girls who have delivered that same number of babies. It is the only maternity home in the Portland area that serves girls as young as 14, said Saint Child Executive Director Jackie Pride. Currently five girls are being served, and can stay up to a year after they have their babies. Average length of stay is about eight months.
     For years the lodge has leased the home to the ministry for $1 per year; in exchange, the ministry put more than $500,000 worth of remodeling into the structure, said Pride.
     But the lease arrangement looks unlikely to continue because the house’s current ownership is in dispute, she said.
     Pride cites a statement on the lodge’s web site that shows the complicated legal issues involved. When the lodge sold the golf course several years ago to a developer, the McDonald House and approximately a half-acre of land was excluded from the sale. Because it was not legally divided at the time, the property was temporarily transferred to the developer, with the lodge receiving leasehold rights.
     According to the lodge, when the developer filed for final subdivision plat approval, the lot would be legally created and the house title revert back to the lodge. But because of the poor economy, the developer instead turned the property back to the bank in lieu of payment. A corporate trust that buys up land for conservation and other purposes currently has an option to buy the entire property from the bank, and has intimated that the McDonald House reversion back to the lodge may be clouded. The lodge is in the process of retaining a law firm to defend its right to the property.
     Beyond this explanation on the lodge’s web site, Pride knows nothing on the matter. She said the lodge, the bank and the corporate trust are all providing no additional information to Saint Child, and the uncertainty is prompting the ministry to pursue another location.
    “No one has connected with us, and our lease is up in December,” she said. “This has been going on for at least six months.”
     What the ministry hopes to buy is a 3,700 square-foot home in Beaverton that has been a retirement facility. It could house five girls, but needs extensive remodeling.
     If the ministry can raise $250,000, an anonymous donor will match that amount. That $500,000 would cover the purchase and the estimated $100,000 to $150,000 in needed renovations, said Pride.
        The fund campaign will also be given focus as Saint Child holds its annual benefit concert featuring rock violinist Aaron Meyer at 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4, at The Old Church, 1422 S.W. 11th Ave., in downtown Portland. Seating is limited; tickets are $25. Phone the ministry at 503-648-4227 or go to saintchild.org.
     “Our heart is that the Lord will open the doors, and that the community of faith will come and support us,” said Pride.