On any given day the Lighthouse Christian Home is bustling with activity as residents tend to their daily chores, be it laundry or feeding chickens.

Lately the home for adults with intellectual disabilities has had an extra layer of activity as construction workers build three new offices in the basement of the 12-bedroom home near Somers. This latest round of expansion will allow the Lighthouse to transform the former upstairs office space into a studio apartment for a resident who is able to live independently through the supported living service program.

The addition of the small apartment will enable the program to free up a bed for a person on Lighthouse’s waiting list.

At Lighthouse Christian Home, it’s all about making the lives of the disabled residents “as independent and successful as possible,” said Shirley Willis, Lighthouse’s executive director.

A grant from the Zinngrabe Foundation provided about three-quarters of the funding for the new offices, and fundraising is underway to bring in the rest of the money.

Lighthouse’s model has been unique since the program was begun in the late 1980s by Peter and Denise Pelchen as a Christian ministry for adults with intellectual disabilities. Its 40-acre farm was donated through Farm in the Dell International, while the 8,000-square-foot home was constructed with volunteer labor and donated money and materials.

The program has offered a unique model of care since the beginning. It’s a working farm with cattle, pigs and chickens, and a big garden where residents grow their own vegetables.

Residents earn money through a work program, putting labels on Montana Coffee Traders coffee bags.

In 2004 Lighthouse transitioned to a 24-hour, seven-day model with rotating staff to serve eight residents. Now the facility has 15 residents — soon to be 16 with the new apartment space.

Close to three years ago supported living services were added to address the daily needs of those who are able to live with minimal staffing, Willis said. Of the 15 residents, three women live independently in a small home next to the main facility.

“The staff doesn’t live here,” Willis stressed about the overall program, explaining that employees arrive for their shifts to offer around-the-clock care. “It’s the individuals who live here. It’s their garden, their chickens.”

Lighthouse’s staff has doubled over the past 12 years to 12 employees.

“That’s a fairly big nonprofit,” she added. “Thus our need for offices.”

As a Care Farm site, Lighthouse opens its home and farm to senior citizens and many others in the community so they can experience farm life firsthand.

“Our site is extraordinary because of the staff and residents who want to share their home. “We have a fairly significant core group of individuals who choose our site,” Willis said.

The Care Farm concept allows participants to interact and socialize with the residents.

“I get calls every week from people asking, ‘how can we do what you’re doing?’” she said, adding that caregivers from out-of-state often travel to Lighthouse Christian Home to study the program.

“We feel so strongly about the fact that it works, but it wouldn’t work without our donors,” Willis stressed.

Forty percent of Lighthouse’s operational budget comes from donors; the rest comes from fees residents pay to live there.

Lighthouse Development Director Kathy Kingery said the program has been successful because “we have some reliable, consistent donors.”

Help comes in the form of people power, too.

“We get a lot of volunteers from Youth With a Mission, Fresh Life Church, 4-H clubs and individuals,” Kingery said, estimating the core group of “regulars” at about 25 people. “Our community support is not just financial-based; everyone has something to give.”

When the pastor of Aletheia Christian Fellowship, a church next door to Lighthouse, encouraged his congregation to “be neighborly,” Craig and Yvonne Mackey showed up at Lighthouse offering to help. Willis said there’s now a “Craig’s List” of odd jobs waiting for Craig, while Yvonne coordinates volunteers and helps with the worship and praise hour each Wednesday.

It’s this kind of grassroots support that has become an integral part of Lighthouse Christian Home, Willis said.

“And it’s all to better the lives of the people who live here,” she said. “The door’s always open and the coffee’s on.”

The residents compete in Special Olympics and participate on baseball teams at Kidsports’ Miracle Field. As they interact in their community, the residents are beacons of faith for the Lighthouse program.

“They’re the ones out there setting the example of how to be kind and considerate,” Willis said.

n To find out about volunteer and giving opportunities, contact Lighthouse Christian Home and Services at 406-857-3276 or learn more online at lighthousechristianhome.org. Donations may be made online using PayPal. There’s also a wish list posted on the website.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.