Lori Ziegler, founder and Executive Director of House of Hope York PA, was struggling with the effects of abuse in her childhood when she attended a Women of Faith Conference in 2005. One of the speakers at this event was comedian & singer, Chonda Pierce, who eventually became a spokesperson for the National House of Hope. Lori listened as Chonda spoke about all the sad and terrible things she and her family experienced. However, in spite of those experiences, Chonda exhibited great peace and joy, which Lori found inspiring. Lori rededicated her life to Christ and left the conference with a renewed heart. Lori sought counsel, worked through her issues and felt lead to open up a home for hurting and broken teenage girls and their families to prevent them from going down the same painful path as her. Lori reached out to the National House of Hope to begin the process of becoming an affiliate and open a home to serve those in South Central Pennsylvania.
In 2007, all of Lori’s hard work paid off when the doors to House of Hope York PA opened for parent education classes and non-residential counseling services in the community. In 2011, New Hope Fissel’s Church donated the beloved home to House of Hope for our Residential Program. In May 2012, the Residential Home that can house up to six girls and the on-site Hope Academy opened for teen girls with our first resident arriving on May 5th. Later in 2012, The Glen Rock Church of Christ donated the House of Hope’s current office and Hope Academy school space. Since then, we have had 21 girls come through our home and have helped hundreds of people through counseling and education.
Currently, we have four girls in our home, one girl in the “home phase” of our program and every office space full of our supporting staff. In 2017, House of Hope was donated additional office space have begun work on expanding the Outpatient Counseling and community education program. With these two additional offices, we will be able to offer more counseling to those in need, especially those waiting for an opening in our residential program. Our ultimate goal is to have a single campus with a boys’ home, girls’ home, a school, counseling offices, and office spaces to help as many hurting teenagers and their families as possible.
For the last ten years The House of Hope York PA has touched hundreds of lives and encouraged others to believe that their life is important. This work is based upon Biblical principles, proven to provide both workable and successful solutions in restoring troubled teens and their families. The end result is more teens becoming solid citizens and contributing members of society. We are growing and will continue to impact our community in deep and long-lasting ways.
