Our Story
Since 1993, Dove Harbor has provided a safe haven and healthy home for more than 250 women and children who had found themselves in crisis situations. These women desired to change their lifestyles, and they longed to create a positive future for their families. Dove Harbor is a Christian program that uses grace, mercy and accountability to lead women forward into independent, healthy living.
The vision for Dove Harbor began when Kerrin Kahaleh and Susan Thomas became aware of the desperate need for transitional housing to welcome women and their children who wanted to leave unhealthy relationships and unsafe homes. These women and children needed a safe harbor in which to stay that would nurture healing and growth until they became strong, stable, and ready to thrive on their own.
Kerrin and Susan began sharing their dream with their home church, North Anderson Church of God (now Madison Park Church of God). Soon, they were joined by Susan Hall. The trio prayed, seeking God´s direction, and then began meeting with church leadership and local social service professionals. Their vision came together in the concept of a program that would meet the women´s needs by combining the fundamental truths of the Bible with professional social work practices.
The guiding scripture, which inspired Dove Harbor´s name, is found in Genesis 8:9 (NLT):
But the dove could find no place to set its feet because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark.
Like Noah, Dove Harbor reaches out to women who are not on solid ground and brings them into an ark of safety to rest, to find healing and wholeness and to prepare for a healthy, happy future.
The concept and program structure of Dove Harbor – meeting real life needs through quality social services and Biblical tenets – has proven a successful model as witnessed in the transformed lives of our graduates. Women are empowered through education and training, protected within a safe environment and challenged to develop healthy relationships. In doing so, they begin to believe in themselves and in God to meet their basic needs. They are challenged to reach beyond their past and present to a future filled with more possibilities than they could ever dream.