Ethan Maple (left), lead pastor of Mt. Comfort Church, talks with a contractor. Mt. Comfort Church has remodeled a former parsonage at its Philadelphia campus into a duplex that could serve families displaced by fire, tornado, etc.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
PHILADELPHIA — The paint is dry. The appliances are in.
And now, some people are too.
The Comfort House, a former church parsonage remodeled into a duplex, is open to provide transitional housing for families who have lost their home through a fire or other disaster. One side of the duplex houses the facility’s first guests, and the other is open.
“We just want our community aware that this resource is available,” said Ethan Maple, lead pastor of Mt. Comfort Church. “We’re just at a place where right now the house is open and available.”
It’s a resource other organizations in the community say is needed. Jim Peters, who’s part of Hancock County’s COAD (Community Organizations Active in Disaster), said Salvation Army giving has been down, and it’s harder to arrange a donated payment for someone at a hotel.
“We have a looming housing crisis in the county, which has escalated rapidly post-COVID,” Peters wrote in an email. “The Comfort House will help alleviate the need for family transitional and emergency housing since Hope House is nearly always at capacity.”
The house, next door to Mt. Comfort Church’s Philadelphia campus, has capacity for two families of up to six members each, or for one large family.
Referring organizations or families can learn more about the residence at https://www.mtcomfortchurch.com/the-comfort-house. There, they’ll find the rules and expectations and a form to fill out. There’s no fee to stay there, but families best-suited for the residence would need to have reliable transportation and an income, according to the site.
Years ago, the house was a parsonage for Philadelphia United Methodist Church, in the days when housing for a pastor came with the job. The church later merged with Mt. Comfort Church in 2021, but the building had not been lived in for about 10 years and was used for storage.
Hancock County Commissioners awarded a grant of nearly $249,375 in American Rescue Plan Act funds toward the remodeling of the more than 2,800 square feet in the former parsonage.
This year, people of the church have helped clear it out. Demo took the structure down to the studs. Contractors reworked the floor plan to make the house’s garage into additional rooms and create the duplex format. Each side has an open kitchen/dining/living room area, a full bathroom, and bedrooms — one with a double bed, one with bunk beds. A back patio, secured storage containers, and an outdoor area for pets complete the residence.
“The hope is to help people who otherwise would be homeless,” Maple said.
