Vision: To transform lives for Christ through a ministry with families in transition by providing housing, spiritual guidance, and other support as identified by each family together with the ministry team.
Pekin first is Reaching Our Community (R.O.C.) by building a duplex to help people in transition with stable housing. The community of Pekin First walks with these families to help with job placement, school enrollment, and spiritual guidance.
Frequently Asked Questions - ROCHouse Ministry
How are tenants chosen? Applications are distributed to community partners with a request for their recommendations of candidates; postings on church online services and newsletters, bulletins. Prospective candidates are interviewed and selection is made according to who the ROCHouse team feels that the church is best suited to walk alongside.
How is rent determined? Rent is set according to ability to pay and with attention to helping the tenant being prepared to afford housing costs after they leave our ministry.
Is ongoing support offered to tenants? The ROCHouse team and tenants write a covenant which outlines the family goals, the steps they will take and what the church agrees to do to help them achieve their goals while living in a ROCHouse. Covenants are reviewed together quarterly & adjusted if needed.
Do tenants have any responsibility to keep the property in good condition? Tenants sign a detailed lease agreement which outlines responsibilities for care of the property and terms of occupancy. Violations with the lease agreement are grounds for eviction. However it is our intention to bring reconciliation whenever possible.
Can ROCHouse ministry financially support itself with money taken in from rent? Because there is no mortgage on Charis Place we have been able to cover expenses of the ministry over the last 5 years, including property taxes, property maintenance and upgrades, from restricted funds which are comprised of rent and designated gifts to the ministry.
What responsibility does the church have? The key to keep in mind is that this is a ministry and does rely on the generosity of the church for support just as every other ministry. Having said that, however, it’s important to note that we have received:
-grants from other UM churches for the Providence Place build
- grants thru our UM Conference and our own Endowment Fund for ROCHouse ministry.
- We applied for and were awarded Advance Special status with our Conference which gives the opportunity to reach out to other UM churches for support. Through the video about the ROCHouse ministry that was shown at Annual Conference we were invited to speak at East Peoria UM Church and they have been collecting a special offering for the past month for ROCHouse.
- We recently won an appeal for tax exempt status for property taxes for Charis Place and are hopeful the same will be true for Providence Place.
- Insurance and lawn and pest control contracts are bundled into church contracts and covered under the Trustees budget.
How are we financing this? In regard to financing for Providence Place build: Income and expenses for the build are accounted for separately from ROCHouse funds.
- Build expenses have been covered by donations, fundraisers, grant awards and the ability to borrow. We have a line of credit for up to $200,000 with an anonymous lender for 3.67% interest. It is the intention of the lender to gift back the interest and has done so through Dec. 2025.
- We have borrowed $160,000 so far and thanks to a $10,000 Endowment grant for loan repayment the balance is $150,000.
- Monthly payments are being made from general operating expenses. There will need to be a significant pledge campaign to complete the build and repay the loan.
What is needed to be successful? Being successful is very subjective and can be difficult to assess. As for the ministry, one thing the ROCHouse team agrees on is that what we think a family needs or what we hope they will achieve is not necessarily how they see it. And it doesn’t mean that the outcome isn’t exactly what God sees as necessary. Whatever else happens or doesn’t happen by the end of their time with us, it’s imperative that they have experienced God’s grace and the opportunity to know the life-changing power of Jesus Christ through relationship building with us, the church.
Success for Providence Place will be when we can move two more families into safe, affordable housing and begin relationship building with them. What is needed for that to happen is for the church (you & me) deciding to support the ministry with whatever gifts, talents, resources God has given us. And that starts with prayer – personal prayer and communal prayer, asking God to open our lives to embrace the work God has led us to.
How can the community be involved?
ROCHouse team has provided the program for various organizations to inform our community about ROCHouse ministry and extended an invitation for interested persons to help with the build. We will continue to do that as opportunities arise. Several other churches provided meals when World Mission Builders were here. Our project manager came to us because someone invited him to come work on the build. All of us talking about the ministry wherever we are is a great way to spread the good news of how God is working in our community and invite others to join us on the journey.
What is the time-line to complete Providence Place? TBD as funding is available.
When will first family move in? Target set for October 1, 2026
Pekin first is Reaching Our Community (R.O.C.) by building a duplex to help people in transition with stable housing. The community of Pekin First walks with these families to help with job placement, school enrollment, and spiritual guidance.
Frequently Asked Questions - ROCHouse Ministry
How are tenants chosen? Applications are distributed to community partners with a request for their recommendations of candidates; postings on church online services and newsletters, bulletins. Prospective candidates are interviewed and selection is made according to who the ROCHouse team feels that the church is best suited to walk alongside.
How is rent determined? Rent is set according to ability to pay and with attention to helping the tenant being prepared to afford housing costs after they leave our ministry.
Is ongoing support offered to tenants? The ROCHouse team and tenants write a covenant which outlines the family goals, the steps they will take and what the church agrees to do to help them achieve their goals while living in a ROCHouse. Covenants are reviewed together quarterly & adjusted if needed.
Do tenants have any responsibility to keep the property in good condition? Tenants sign a detailed lease agreement which outlines responsibilities for care of the property and terms of occupancy. Violations with the lease agreement are grounds for eviction. However it is our intention to bring reconciliation whenever possible.
Can ROCHouse ministry financially support itself with money taken in from rent? Because there is no mortgage on Charis Place we have been able to cover expenses of the ministry over the last 5 years, including property taxes, property maintenance and upgrades, from restricted funds which are comprised of rent and designated gifts to the ministry.
What responsibility does the church have? The key to keep in mind is that this is a ministry and does rely on the generosity of the church for support just as every other ministry. Having said that, however, it’s important to note that we have received:
-grants from other UM churches for the Providence Place build
- grants thru our UM Conference and our own Endowment Fund for ROCHouse ministry.
- We applied for and were awarded Advance Special status with our Conference which gives the opportunity to reach out to other UM churches for support. Through the video about the ROCHouse ministry that was shown at Annual Conference we were invited to speak at East Peoria UM Church and they have been collecting a special offering for the past month for ROCHouse.
- We recently won an appeal for tax exempt status for property taxes for Charis Place and are hopeful the same will be true for Providence Place.
- Insurance and lawn and pest control contracts are bundled into church contracts and covered under the Trustees budget.
How are we financing this? In regard to financing for Providence Place build: Income and expenses for the build are accounted for separately from ROCHouse funds.
- Build expenses have been covered by donations, fundraisers, grant awards and the ability to borrow. We have a line of credit for up to $200,000 with an anonymous lender for 3.67% interest. It is the intention of the lender to gift back the interest and has done so through Dec. 2025.
- We have borrowed $160,000 so far and thanks to a $10,000 Endowment grant for loan repayment the balance is $150,000.
- Monthly payments are being made from general operating expenses. There will need to be a significant pledge campaign to complete the build and repay the loan.
What is needed to be successful? Being successful is very subjective and can be difficult to assess. As for the ministry, one thing the ROCHouse team agrees on is that what we think a family needs or what we hope they will achieve is not necessarily how they see it. And it doesn’t mean that the outcome isn’t exactly what God sees as necessary. Whatever else happens or doesn’t happen by the end of their time with us, it’s imperative that they have experienced God’s grace and the opportunity to know the life-changing power of Jesus Christ through relationship building with us, the church.
Success for Providence Place will be when we can move two more families into safe, affordable housing and begin relationship building with them. What is needed for that to happen is for the church (you & me) deciding to support the ministry with whatever gifts, talents, resources God has given us. And that starts with prayer – personal prayer and communal prayer, asking God to open our lives to embrace the work God has led us to.
How can the community be involved?
ROCHouse team has provided the program for various organizations to inform our community about ROCHouse ministry and extended an invitation for interested persons to help with the build. We will continue to do that as opportunities arise. Several other churches provided meals when World Mission Builders were here. Our project manager came to us because someone invited him to come work on the build. All of us talking about the ministry wherever we are is a great way to spread the good news of how God is working in our community and invite others to join us on the journey.
What is the time-line to complete Providence Place? TBD as funding is available.
When will first family move in? Target set for October 1, 2026
