Providing a new beginning

New Beginnings Community Church purchases home to be used for transitional housing, plans campus for those in need

by Josh Whitener

Thanks to New Beginnings Community Church, community members in need of transitional housing should soon have a place to go.

The Mint Hill church recently bought a house in The Gates of Mint Hill subdivision, adjacent to the church campus, and held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Sunday, June 24. At about 2 p.m., dozens of church members gathered in front of the house, 7011 Gates Drive, to pray, tour the home and celebrate the start of a new ministry. It’s the start, church officials hope, of a campus to house those in need and a counseling center.

The church paid $335,000 for the house, according to real estate records. The house sold in 2008 for $595,000.

Rev. Dr. Michael L. Henderson, senior pastor of New Beginnings, stood in front of the house’s garage, accompanied by Mint Hill Mayor Ted Biggers, and addressed the crowd, thanking them for their support throughout the project.

“We have prayed over this subdivision, and we are now the proud owners of our first home in this subdivision,” he said. “We are eternally grateful to those of you who have prayed and who have believed in our vision.”

Biggers also spoke, voicing his support for the outreach effort.

“Before this, this was just a house,” he said. “Now it’s a house of God. You folks have brought the Lord into this area here, and what you’re doing for this community, for everyone, for all of us sinners, for all of our children, y’all are making this world a better place.”

Formerly occupied, the house was abandoned as a result of the sinking economy. Eventually, the vacant home caught the eye of the leaders of New Beginnings, who saw an opportunity to use the house for outreach.

“At that point, several negotiations started and over time, we were able to come to a meeting of open minds to be able to purchase this (house),” Rev. Twanna Henderson, the church’s First Lady, said.

The house is a 2,500-square-foot, two-story home with four bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms, a dining room, kitchen, den and laundry room on .46 acres. Although New Beginnings isn’t exactly sure when the house will be occupied, Twanna Henderson said it will be used for some type of transitional housing.

Purchasing the house is part of a larger project New Beginnings has planned. The church hopes to purchase the entire neighborhood and use each house to reach out to the community. Halfway houses, housing for pregnant teens, lodging for the homeless and a counseling center all are ways the church hopes to use the homes to reach out to those in need.

The church won’t need any zoning changes or approval from the town to open a group home, Planner John Hoard said. The site would need to meet state guidelines, he said, which allow up to six people with physical, emotional or mental disabilities to live in a group home.

“The ultimate goal is to really be able to have this entire subdivision so we can serve the community in various ways in the years to come,” Twanna Henderson said.

When New Beginnings started 12 years ago, 12 members met in a recreation center. Now, in a large facility at the intersection of Stillwell and Margaret Wallace roads, the church serves more than 4,000 members and continues to look for new opportunities to reach out to the community. They also now have a location in Indian Trail.

“Our goal is to be able to impact the community in different ways, definitely those who have been disenfranchised,” Twanna Henderson said. “I think that’s definitely our target. People basically just need to know that somebody cares. I think with our church being called ‘New Beginnings,’ a lot of us, if not all of us, at some time need a new beginning, and so this is really about a new beginning for people.”