POCATELLO — Jacqualine Thomas, pastor of Praise Temple of God in Pocatello, is requesting financial support from area residents to help turn her dream of a faith-based homeless shelter, Big Momma’s House, into a reality.

Thomas has until Jan. 28 to secure $30,000 for the down payment on the property at 916 E. Sublette St. in Pocatello. Since September, $7,000 has been raised.

“My hope and my desire is that the community will rally around me to support me financially so that I can buy this house,” Thomas said. “I’m looking for doctors, teachers, lawyers and any businessowner or professional to help out in any way they can.”

Big Momma’s House is a nonprofit organization that supports a substance-free lifestyle, looks to provide permanent housing solutions and hopes to develop self-sustainability through employment, education and counseling opportunities.

At Big Mama’s House, clients will never go hungry, will have access to mental health services and will have the opportunity for peer-based counseling services about substance abuse, domestic violence and anger management, Thomas said.

“I cannot begin to tell you how many people I’ve shared my own home with,” she said. “It’s a continuous problem. People come to me to share their personal struggles when they wouldn’t go to anyone else. I’ve had over three families come to the church who were homeless and more than 21 people who have been homeless in the last few months.”

The initial deadline to purchase the property was Oct. 1. However, an extension has provided Thomas and her team with a little extra time to put the funds together.

Thomas said she thinks existing homeless shelters such as Aid for Friends do a tremendous job of working and dealing with people who are homeless, adding that what the area is missing is an organization that incorporates faith and God into their services.

“I’m positive that the other homeless shelters are doing an excellent job, but the Bible says the poor will be with us always, so there’s always going to be individuals who are homeless,” Thomas said. “I know Aid for Friends is doing a wonderful job, but the need is much bigger than people think it is.”

Just recently, a gentleman stood up in the church who was homeless when he first got here, Thomas said.

“He was hungry, he didn’t have a place to stay and one of our church members took him in,” she said. “Another young lady was homeless before another member took them in. For me, there is a huge need in this area.”

Thomas said Big Momma’s House will offer wrap-around housing, which aims to provide the services individuals need to get back on their feet, not just a roof over their head or a meal on their plates.

“I don’t want to have just a handout program,” she said. “We want to be a hands-up program so that when they leave Big Momma's House, they have re-established themselves. They won’t be relying on assistance and I’m hoping that we can get them in their own apartment and they can be self-sustaining.”

A major concern for Thomas is the difficulty in securing state and federal grants for the homeless shelter. Because it’s a faith-based organization, funding opportunities are more scarce and difficult to acquire.

However, this daunting characteristic to the process has not left Thomas discouraged. Instead, she's more hopeful and optimistic that the Pocatello community will help make this much-needed service a reality, she said.

“Pocatello is a growing community, and I believe having just one shelter is not enough,” Thomas said. “We need to have God in everything that we do. A religious-based homeless shelter will exclude me from a lot of things the government can offer in terms of assistance. But I don’t care what anybody says, until we put God in these programs they aren’t going to work as they should, and we will continue to have these problems.”

She continued, “This is somebody’s child, somebody’s son or daughter, or mother or father. Instead of us closing our eyes, we need to extend our hands. We want to work with them spiritually and mentally, give them new life skills and most of all, give them love.”

Those interested in making a tax-deductible donation to the shelter can do so at any Wells Fargo in the area. They can also give directly to the Big Momma’s House donation account or use the PayPal link at bigmommashouse.org.