Friday, June 1st, 2007

Celina ministry to expand

By Betty Lawrence
Celina's Harbor House Maternity Home recently acquired a similar facility in Norwalk and the organization currently is in the midst of a reorganization effort.
Both maternity homes, called Harbor House, Celina and Harbor House, Norwalk, will operate under an umbrella organization called Harbor Life Ministries (HLM), said the Rev. Bruce Head, director of the Celina home.
The staff at both homes remains undetermined at the present due to the reorganization, Head added.    The Celina maternity home opened in 1990 at the former Gibbons Hospital building on Fayette Street and can accommodate up to eight girls.
The newly acquired maternity home previously was known as Abby House. The two-story home, located in Norwalk, near Sandusky, can house up to six girls, plus a house family.
"We did not have to buy it, it was given to us by the people who operated it. They could not do it efficiently and had trouble staffing it, so they said if we run and staff it, they would give it to Harbor House," Head said.
The home is debt-free with enough funds available to operate a full year without any other support, according to a news release from Harbor House.
The agency will continue its Elizabeth Pregnancy Services for client and extended family support, the online hotline called PregnancyAnswers.com and the Ohio Christian Maternity Homes, a network that supports other Christian maternity homes.
The addition of a second maternity home fits into the future of Harbor House, Head said.
"This is a very exciting time for us. Harbor House had been looking to expand its ministry operation and when the Norwalk home became available, it was like it was dropped out of heaven by God," he said.
Harbor House Maternity Home is one of only a few maternity homes in the United States to house pregnant teenage girls only. The girls live with houseparents in a family setting. It is licensed by the Ohio Department of Health.
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Subscriber and paid stories on this date
MONTEZUMA - About 20 residents showed up Thursday night to hear details of a massive street, sidewalk and drainage project that is to get underway next month.
MINSTER - An ambitious plan by American Municipal Power-Ohio (AMP-Ohio) could provide three Auglaize County communities with reliable sources of electrical power at a lower cost, officials were told Wednesday.
American Municipal Power of Ohio (AMP-Ohio), started in 1971, owns and operates electric generation facilities such as the Richard H. Gorsuch coal-fired plant in Marietta as well as facilities dealing with transmission and distribution.
A former Trooper of the Year has been named the new commander of the Wapakoneta post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP).
Lt. John Carrico, 38, begins his first day on the job today.
A Celina man has pleaded not guilty to rape and domestic violence in Mercer County Common Pleas Court.
Scott A. Yenser, 30, 1200 Kensington Drive, remains incarcerated at the Mercer County Jail on a $750,000 bond awaiting a June 13 pretrial hearing.
St. Henry Village Council members this week went over the first reading of a resolution that would require 21 homeowners in the Osterholt/Eastview Subdivision to install sidewalks and driveway approaches.
St. Henry school officials awarded 99 diplomas to the graduating class of 2007 on May 27 at the high school.
Corey Knapke was named valedictorian, while Jessica Bruns was named salutatorian.
Editor's note: In the coming months, The Daily Standard will publish a mini-history series on area convents that once housed the Sisters of the Prec
ASHLAND - There's an old football coaching quote that goes "Offense sells tickets; Defense wins games."
No surprise that the saying rings true in football-crazy St. Marys.