By Margaret Matray
The Virginian-Pilot
Jan 30, 2016
View all photos from the groundbreaking here.
By next spring, up to 22 at-risk children will have a new home in Great Bridge: The Elder’s House.
City leaders and members of Mount Lebanon Baptist Church broke ground Saturday on what will become a 9,600-square-foot residential facility in the 800 block of Bells Mill Road.
In front of a crowd of several hundred people, Bishop Kim W. Brown explained that the church’s beginnings date to 1902, when seven men started a Sunday school. Within five years, that ministry grew into a church. The site where The Elder’s House will be built was the original parcel of land the founders purchased.
“We stand on their shoulders today,” Brown said to cheers.
A bell from the ministry’s first church will be placed on the porch of The Elder’s House, and the children who live there will get to ring it when they make honor roll, Brown said.
Elder Valerie Brown said the goal is to open the home by spring 2017. The facility will house boys and girls ages 12 to 18 who have been referred there by parents, other churches or the juvenile court system, she said.
The house will feature two wings for living areas, an apartment for the house parents, a study and rooms for crafts, games and gathering.
Before city officials and church leaders grabbed their shovels, Mayor Alan Krasnoff told the crowd that the home will help build the teens’ stability, security and sense of self, turning obstacles into opportunities.
“The glory of God is using you as his instruments,” he said. “… The whole of Chesapeake thanks you.”
Margaret Matray, 757-222-5216, margaret.matray@pilotonline.com
