The House of Prayer Christian Academy (HOPCA) Family & Community Center (FaCCs) plans to be an incubator of family support; community services; business development; career enhancements; and job creation. HOPCA is a project with the goal to become a “Light House” multipurpose facility in the local and regional area, a center providing a wide range of products and services for community families and community. HOPCA intends to become an evolutionary pattern of how a Faith Base supported organization uniquely combines business practices with charitable concepts and community services … supporting its neighborhood patrons and employees. Its intent is to help pave the path by which the US President’s Faith Base Initiatives are spirited and implemented in this economy.

HOPCA is a manifestation of the vision of Suffragan Bishop John H. Pettiford and a direct extension and expansion of the House of Prayer to All Nations (HOPTAN) outreach ministry. This facility is an inspirational combination of community evocation, people mission, and a response to a higher command for HOPTAN to be their brother’s keeper and to show the love and humanity throughout the local, regional, and international world. It’s immediate focus is on the Washington Park Township, with the understanding that assistance and support will be extended to neighboring communities such as Fairmont City (NW 1.5mi); East St. Louis (SW 2.5mi); Centerville (SW 3.2mi); Alorton (SW 3.5mi); Caseyville (E 4.3mi); Brooklyn (NW 5.2mi); Madison (NW 5.4mi); Sauget (SW 5.8mi), and other neighboring cities & townships.

HOPCA is focusing on four primary areas: 1) Family Care Support (FCS); 2) Academic & Professional Support (APS); 3) Community Outreach Support (COS); and 4) Specialized Services Support (SSS).

The Family Care Support (FCS) area focus on the needs of individuals (e.g. children, teenagers, parents, senior citizens) and families. These FCS programs are fee based services which provide services to patrons while assisting them in finding supplemental funding from government sponsored programs and grants. While the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) insures our licensing and certification, CHASI (Children’s Home + Aid – Southern Illinois) and others provides continual consultation and financial support to qualifying patrons and programs (e.g. “Daycare”).

The Academic & Professional Support (APS) area focus on academia and training in professional, commercial, academic, and technical areas. An “AmeriCorp / SIU-E” partnership has provided SIU-E student-teachers and lab assistants for the academy. Students in-turn will login teaching/training hours toward their degrees. Some of these services and courses will be credited as Continuing Education Units (CEU) and be provided by internet (e.g. distant learning). It is through the IT section that a theme for inserting technology in the community is being pursued.

The Community Outreach Support (COS) area concentrates on the needs of the community with a goal to encourage fellowship, neighborhood, village, and families. These programs will assist the moral lifting of the township and providing assistance to the local and regional community. Some of these services will include real estate management that will address the renting, purchasing, managing, rehabbing, anti-foreclosing, and selling of real estate in the local community … providing additional cash flow, encouraging home ownership, enriching neighborhood pride, and empowering families, villages, townships, and cities.

The Specialized Servicing Support (SSS) which provides specialized projects and programs to facilitate expansion into other areas of support. Most services are an expansion and enhancement of HOPTAN’s community-focus outreach model, which ensures that this business ministry is not without prior experiences, successes, lessons learned, and supporting charitable staff behind it.