September 15, 2004
Miracle Manor Chair a Child charity auction
Proceeds fund programs for single mothers recovering from substance abuse problems
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Two chairs went out the door Saturday afternoon during the Miracle Manor's Chair a Child charity fundraising auction.
During the open house that afternoon, the lower level of the 4,500-square-foot home on State Street featured chairs crafted by a dozen area furniture makers. Contributors to the event included Clifton Monteith, Bob Purvis, Joe Stearns and Paul Czamanske. The remaining one-of-a-kind chairs will be auctioned off during the Rolling Centuries Barn auction scheduled for October 2.
Funds raised by the chairs will enable Miracle Manor to help single mothers recovering from substance abuse keep their families together. Since it opened in January 2003, Miracle Manor has served 38 families and 78 children. The residence can house up to eight families at a time, offering a range of recovery and educational programs through partnership with Head Start and Catholic Human Services.
Some women who participate are court ordered and some are under a family court mandate. By coming to Miracle Manor instead of a jail cell, they can keep their family intact and concentrate on recovery.
"Family court feels more comfortable placing families in a structured setting where there's supervision," said Mary O'Connor, who helped found the program. "We've done a lot of that, protective services work, family reunification - coming back from foster care - and family preservation."
Providing a refuge for fragile families drives O'Connor, executive director of Overlook Resources, the program's non-profit directing agency. In fact, she noted that Miracle Manor's underlying philosophy is the earlier the better with a favorite client being a pregnant woman.
"We had four babies born here who were at high risk for fetal alcohol syndrome and they didn't have it, they were born safe," O'Connor said. "In terms of dollars and cents that's a million and a half dollars saved across a lifetime."
Overlook Resources is currently shifting gears, restructuring Miracle Manor to provide primary services. This new direction will allow the facility to tap a steady stream of state contracts while providing the accountability required by the state.
"That will essentially change nothing on the day-to-day level but it will at least ensure the state a level of care that they feel comfortable with," said O'Connor, a retired primary level teacher who worked for 25 years in Pontiac. "That's what we've been working on at this point and once that's all in place we anticipate bringing families back in and re-staffing the facility."
"What we did actually worked fabulously but we didn't have a secure funding stream from the state so we had to find a way to fit in the round hole, because we are a square peg," she added. "This change will be part of a solution."
O'Connor hopes that Miracle Manor becomes a square peg emulated around the state. She believes this program could serve as a model for breaking dysfunctional patterns passed from parent to child to grandchild.
"Because I'd like to see this in every city, this could change the way that Michigan deals with these high need families," O'Connor said. "It could do school dropouts, teen pregnancies, Minors in Possession, because it will break the generational chain."
Miracle Manor itself is a miracle. In 1999, it was rescued from the wrecking ball by a state and federal grants that allowed Addiction Treatment Services to purchase the property. O'Connor parted ways with that organization but brought the grant money for Miracle Manor with her. She formed Overlook Resources and garnered community support for a massive home rehabilitation.
The stately home had been carved up for rental units and was very run down. However, $500,000 and countless volunteer hours in renovations later, Miracle Manor has provided a safe haven for a number of families.
"The house was in deplorable, deplorable shape," recalled Jane Hayes, a founding board member. "It was a major renovation with a lot of community involvement from all over. In the renovation, they really attempted to restore a lot of the original home and bring it back to life."