PEORIA, Ill. – Dream Center is looking to fill a need that its executive director says is increasing in central Illinois.
Andy King says there’s a growing need to provide a place for young mothers who may not have a place to turn to.
“This isn’t an inner-city problem, this isn’t a rural problem, this is just an issue that we’ve seen all over of just a place for these girls to go and get love and support, and help them with those next steps in life,” King said.
To help with the problem, the Dream Center is looking to purchase a home in rural Tazewell County in the Washington area at Nofsinger Road and Liberty Lane.
King says the plan is to name the facility the “Zoe House,” where it will house four to five first-time young mothers. It would be a closed-door house, where one must apply and be interviewed to be accepted and stay at the house.
The house would support those young mothers from pregnancy to around a year after birth, and provide services such as counseling and job assistance. King says those in the house would have to assist with chores and daily tasks, and follow rules and curfews. There would also be a Dream Center employee who would serve as a ‘house mother’ to ensure everything runs smoothly.
King says he’s heard concerns from neighbors about the proposal, and says it wouldn’t be like their facility in downtown Peoria.
“It’s a program, it is not an overnight shelter,” King says. “This is a program where we’re going to work with these girls for a year-and-a-half or so. And so it’s a little bit different than what we’ve done before.”
In order to obtain the house, the zoning needed to be changed. The Tazewell County Zoning Board of Appeals approved the house’s change from agricultural to residential, with a special use permit for a specialized care facility. The approval is contingent on full approval from the Tazewell County Board, which is scheduled to vote on it at its November 15th meeting.
