Place of Grace holds groundbreaking ceremony

Place of Grace held a ribbon cutting at their new Family Housing Program apartment development at 217 Joe Street. Shown in the photo above celebrating at the groundbreaking include from left, Richard Strick, Mayor; Erin Didion, Place of Grace board member; Ashley Bender, Place of Grace board member; Tom Wall, Huntington County Commissioner; Brittany Renkenberger, executive director, Place of Grace; Andrew Rensberger, Huntington City Council; Rob Miller, Huntington County Commissioner; Jillian Parsons, Place of Grace; Becky Benjamin, Place of Grace board member, Sandra Tamez, Region 3A Project Director and Lindsey Hammond, OCRA Regional Liaison.

Place of Grace, a faith-based residential recovery organization, held a groundbreaking ceremony on February 9, to mark the start of construction on its Family Housing Program located at 217 W. Joe Street, Huntington. The new apartment development is designed to support women in recovery as they reunify with their children after completing a residential recovery program.

The ceremony was co-hosted by Place of Grace and the Huntington County Commissioners, highlighting a strong partnership focused on recovery, family stability and long-term community impact.

The Family Housing Program will include five apartment units and a dedicated meeting and community space. It is designed to serve women who have successfully completed a residential recovery program and are working toward family reunification, providing a stable environment where mothers and children can heal and rebuild together.

Participants in the Family Housing Program will receive wraparound services that include continued recovery support, life skills training, financial literacy education, housing permanency planning, and parenting education and support. As a faith-based program, Place of Grace integrates spiritual support with practical tools to promote successful reunification and long-term family stability.

“The Family Housing Program addresses a critical gap in recovery services,” said Brittany Renkenberger, executive director of Place of Grace. “By pairing safe, stable housing with wraparound support, we are helping families reunify in a way that is sustainable, supported and centered on long-term success.”

The project is largely funded through the Recovery Housing Grant administered by the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA), whose investment supports recovery-focused housing initiatives across the state.

While this groundbreaking ceremony marks the beginning of construction, a larger ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony will be held in Fall 2026 once the Family Housing Program is complete.