Our Story
Born from Faith. Built for the Forgotten.
Michael's House is a Spirit-led calling — a developing foster care support home designed to provide safe, trauma-informed care for youth aging out of the foster system.
How It Began
A Gap That Could Not Be Ignored
Michael's House is a developing foster care support home designed to provide safe, trauma-informed, short-term care for youth aging out of the foster system. Our mission is to offer stability, comfort, and compassionate support during the critical hours and days following removal from their foster care facility.
We aim to bridge the gap between crisis and long-term placement, ensuring that every child is met with dignity, safety, and emotional care. This is not simply a program — it is a calling, born from the heart of those who have seen firsthand what happens when young people are left to navigate the hardest moments of their lives alone.
Our Mission
Stability, Dignity, and Hope
The mission of Michael's House Foster Youth Transition Center is to provide youth aging out of foster care with a safe, stable, and nurturing environment where they can transition into adulthood with dignity, support, and hope. We are committed to meeting the physical, emotional, spiritual, and developmental needs of each young person through comprehensive wraparound services, trauma-informed care, and compassionate guidance.
Our mission is to prevent foster youth from falling into homelessness, addiction, trafficking, or exploitation by offering secure housing, essential resources, life-skills training, education and employment pathways, mental-health support, and chaplain services. We walk alongside each youth as they heal, grow, and build the foundation for long-term independence.
At Michael's House, we believe every young adult deserves a chance to thrive. Our mission is to empower them with the tools, confidence, and community they need to create a stable, purposeful, and hope-filled future — one they were never given the opportunity to imagine.
Our Vision
A Future Where No One Ages Out Alone
Our vision is to create a future where no young person ages out of foster care into homelessness, instability, or despair. Michael's House Foster Youth Transition Center envisions a community where every transitioning youth is met with safety, dignity, and unwavering support the moment they step into adulthood. We see a world where young adults are not left to navigate life alone, but are surrounded by caring mentors, stable housing, and the resources they need to thrive.
We envision Michael's House as a launching pad for independence, healing, and long-term success — a place where youth can rebuild trust, discover their strengths, and develop the skills necessary to create a stable and fulfilling life. Our vision is to empower each young adult to break cycles of homelessness, trauma, and vulnerability, replacing them with confidence, purpose, and opportunity.
We believe every young person deserves a future filled with hope. At Michael's House, we strive to be the bridge between survival and stability, between uncertainty and possibility, and between the challenges of the past and the promise of a brighter tomorrow.
What We Stand On
Our Core Values
Dignity
Every young person who walks through our doors is treated as a whole human being — worthy of respect, care, and belonging.
Safety
Physical, emotional, and spiritual safety is the foundation of everything we do. Trauma-informed care is not a program — it is our posture.
Hope
We believe no story is finished. Every resident carries the potential for healing, growth, and a future they never thought possible.
Community
No one heals alone. We surround each youth with mentors, staff, and a community committed to walking alongside them for the long haul.
Faith
Michael's House is a Spirit-led calling. Chaplain services and spiritual care are woven into the fabric of who we are and how we serve.
Empowerment
Our goal is not dependency — it is independence. We equip each young adult with the tools, skills, and confidence to build their own future.
A Testimony of Redemption
Shannon's Story
Shannon's story reflects the reality faced by so many youth who age out of foster care — and the reason Michael's House exists.
She is living proof that trauma does not get the final word.
She is living proof that survival can become purpose.
She is living proof that God can take a shattered childhood and turn it into a testimony that sets others free.
"Her story is not defined by what was done to her. Her story is defined by the God who carried her through it."
Today, we share the story of a woman whose life is nothing short of a miracle — whose journey proves that God's hand can reach into the darkest places and pull someone into purpose, healing, and destiny. Her story is not easy to hear, but it is powerful, redemptive, and filled with the unmistakable fingerprints of God.
When she was just eight years old, she and her brother were kidnapped by their father and taken across eight states. What followed were seven long years of fear, instability, and unimaginable abuse. The physical violence began immediately. By the age of eleven, the abuse turned into something no child should ever endure. Yet even in those moments, something inside her refused to die. God was preserving her long before she knew how to call on Him.
At fourteen, courage rose up in her — quiet, trembling, but unstoppable. One day, she walked out of her high school and never looked back. That bus took her to Pittsburgh with no money, no food, no one to call. She was cold, hungry, and alone — but she was free. And even then, God was guiding every step.
After months of surviving on her own, she was picked up by police and placed in a home for runaways. She was eventually sent to Colorado, placed in group homes until one agreed to keep her until she turned eighteen. But two months before her birthday, she left — feeling unwanted, suffocated, and alone.
She went to Denver, and within a year, the weight of her past pulled her into addiction. She was raped five times. She spent nights in jail, months on probation, and years trying to numb the pain of a childhood stolen from her. The only family she had left was her grandmother.
But even then — even in the darkest places — God never let go. After fifteen years of surviving instead of living, she made a decision that changed everything. She left the city, left the chaos, left the pain, and moved to the country. And in that small town, after nearly four years of rebuilding her life piece by piece, she met the man who would become her husband — a man who loves her, honors her, and sees the strength and beauty God placed inside her.
Join Us in Standing in the Gap
Michael's House is a Spirit-led calling that depends on the generosity and commitment of people who believe every young person deserves a future. Whether you give, volunteer, or simply spread the word — you are part of this mission.