Hemminger House FundsComing In
By Stacey Creasy
PLYMOUTH � The Turning Point Housing Coalition has about one half of the match money it needs to proceed with the project of converting the Hemminger House into the county�s first shelter for abused women and children.
The coalition received a $350,000 grant for the project last year. Since then they have been conducting fund raisers and accepting donations.
Laura Mann, a member of the coalition, said the group needs $87,500 to meet the match money requirement with the grant.
�We�ll get there,� she added. �Getting the grant was the hard part. Since then people have been very supportive of the project.�
The shelter will continue to be called the Hemminger House, which has stood since 1937. It may be the last travel lodge still standing along the old Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental highway.Once the facility is converted, Mann said it will house six families. The average staying time for each family will be 45 to 60 days. By then the coalition hopes to have the abuse victims on their feet and moved to a more permanent residence.
Marshall County is one of the few counties in northern Indiana that does not have its own shelter for victims of abuse. One night Mann was forced to check with several counties before she could find a safe haven for a family.
Mann and the coalition hope to receive the match money in time to begin the project in order to have the shelter ready to open in the spring of 2004.
The shelter will be managed by the coalition and the Marshall County Housing Authority.
Mann believes the shelter alone will save lives and keep innocent victims of abuse from having to leave Plymouth.
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