Hope for a better future is the offer Hannah’s Home extends to women who are facing unplanned pregnancy amid hurt and broken lives.
Pregnancy Help News visited Hannah's Home in Mentor, Ohio, and interviewed Executive Director Vicki Krnac.
As we initially entered the community area, a handwritten poster on the wall near the large table where most of the staff and residents’ meals are shared noted recent discussion points: “Words we live by . . . approachable, integrity, adaptable, fellowship, discernment, humility, gentle, considerate, teachable, resilient, . . .”
The atmosphere of the facility was warm and welcoming. Since the Gospel is at the center of the home’s work with women, support, love, hope, and strength are the inherent overflow to those who receive care at Hannah’s Home.
Krnac has been the director of Hannah’s Home for eight years. Her previous work in education, working with dyslexic students, prepared her to set the residents of the ministry up for success.
Krnac tutored dyslexic students and trained teachers at the university level to work with the challenges of dyslexia. Fostered by her background, education is a key component of the multifaceted approach of Hannah’s Home.
From the beginning of her work with Hannah’s Home, Krnac felt a deep connection with the moms because she was making the adjustment to being a single mom with three children of her own. For the first four years she lived there with her kids, so she considers herself to be a “product of the home” as it provided stability and support for her family as well.
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The foundation of Hannah’s Home is Christian as the website lays out a clear statement of faith and history of this 23-year-old establishment.
Carol Beresford, a pastor’s wife, founded the maternity home, opening its doors in 2001 and establishing the home debt-free and completely furnished which has been their mode of operation ever since.
Beresford started a second Hannah's Home in southern Florida 10 years later after she and her husband moved there. The two maternity homes are separate entities but with the same heart to serve the Lord and save lives.
Hannah’s Home was originally licensed as a maternity home for minors. Krnac stepped into the new era as the home was transitioned into a facility for adult women so that their babies could be there with their mothers.
Four years ago, Hannah’s Nest was opened to offer daycare services to residents and alumni mothers and babies. The extension of services has enabled the ministry to empower the women they serve to establish their own households.
Three years ago, Krnac won on the non-profit Shark Tank program, and was awarded $10,000 for the Phase II Apartment project, which then raised an additional $100,000 over a weekend as a result of the media exposure.
In 2022, Hannah’s Home Off-Campus Pregnancy Extension (HHOPE) to minors, women with older children, and others not in need of a residence was started. This brings the Hannah’s Home services of counseling, social work and case management, classes, and material aid to other women in the community.
For the residents of Hannah’s Home, all these services are part of a highly structured program which extends to about three years if needed. It is designed to enrich their lives and build toward a future vision of family life as God intended.
“We have a lot of guidelines that they have to abide by,” explained Krnac. “We have two different phases of our program. When they come in, they’re on the main resident floor, we have six bedrooms there, that’s when they’re pregnant.”
Each resident remains through her time of delivery, maternity leave and then toward getting back to work with structure to guide her into healthy routines for mom and baby.
“Then they have the opportunity to move up into the apartments. Last year we renovated the second floor into four apartments,” Krnac noted.
She explained the second phase gives residents the opportunity to live in a “safe place to fail” as they learn to budget and save money toward their future homes.
For clients who are recovering from addiction, that takes priority, as Krnac stated, “Sobriety is their job.”
The recovering resident follows an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) which includes counseling, meetings, and a complete focus on staying sober as they are learning life skills and following the requirements of being part of Hannah’s Home.
The atmosphere is genuinely that of a home and not a treatment facility. Much is expected of each resident in terms of contributing toward meals and maintaining the house, yet they pay nothing.
Participating in groups, counseling, meeting with a case worker, daily devotionals and working on life skill assignments are requirements which residents end up experiencing as amazing blessings. Employability is largely emphasized during the first 30 days.
“A lot of our moms have older children that are not in their custody so reunifying with older children is a big thing that we help them with,” Krnac stated.
Some moms do arrive with a toddler in tow. The situations require a case-by-case analysis as to whether the individual’s situation will be a good fit at Hannah’s Home.
The three requirements for residents to agree to are daily devotions, a weekly Bible study, and going to church on Sunday. They are clear on the point that Hannah’s Home is a faith-based ministry. Donations fund all they do.
Krnac has assembled an effective team on her staff which works to create and maintain Hannah’s Home. She and five other staff members work full-time along with one of the daycare workers with an additional part-time daycare worker on staff.
There are also ten RAs who come in during staff off hours to stay in staff residential quarters during nights and weekends. They act in a PRN capacity covering from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Approximately 40 active volunteers contribute time to helping with the daycare, managing the material aid, fundraising, and other services—clearly essential to the success of Hannah’s Home.
The structure and care plans for each resident establish a thriving atmosphere where an array of needs is met and lives are changed.
“The counselor is doing things like teaching them how to live in a community well, building healthy relationships, getting out of toxic relationships,” Krnac said. “She also teaches sexual integrity class and runs a community meeting once a week.”
The case worker focuses on long term goals which build toward independence. Housing, education, transportation needs, and medical services all require planning and commitment toward specific objectives. As targets for the residents are met, additional incentives of earning material items add to the feeling of accomplishment.
The house director runs day-to-day operations and is responsible for assignments for meals and chores in phase one. She manages the six moms’ schedules starting with being at devotions each morning at 8:30.
Phase two, in the upstairs apartments is a significant shift in the community where the resident’s own family transitions into being their community. With a bedroom and a living room in her own quarters she shifts from the feel of common spaces to her own space with her child.
Hannah’s Home sits on more than five acres with approximately 15,000 square feet of living space.
Plans to build a full-size daycare behind Hannah’s Home are in the drawing stages. These services will be open for the community to use as well.
In the words of one resident, Hannah’s Home gives you a chance because, “This home will shape you in ways you could never have imagined.”
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