MINERAL RIDGE, Ohio – When fostered teens turn 18, that doesn’t mean they’re ready to tackle all of life’s challenges alone.
To help young adults – age 18 to 21 – transition from foster care to independent living, the Moab House provides small rental rooms, food, basic toiletries, sheets, towels and transportation, as well as shared spaces including a living room, bathrooms, laundry room and a kitchen. Up to eight young adults can live in the home.
And, more importantly, the Moab House comes with Lori and Satrap Manteghi, the house mom and dad, who are available to give advice, teach skills and build relationships for young adults on their own.
“So the transition from foster care out to adulthood is very difficult,” said Marcie Consiglio, founder and executive director of Moab House. “They don’t feel ready. They go out there and realize … nobody’s grocery shopping for me, nobody’s cooking for me, nobody is making sure that I’m eating or doing the things that I need to do.”
The Moab House opened its door a year ago to only a few young adults until a full occupancy permit can be issued.
In addition to providing a safe place to live, the house gives the former foster children an opportunity to learn life skills such as budgeting, driving, cooking and building credit by paying rent.
“The three pillars that we focus on the most here is that they are safe, loved and productive,” Consiglio said.
Lori Manteghi said it is a privilege for her and her husband, Satrap, and their daughter to get to live in the home and interact with the young adults daily. They host special events like movie nights and dinners, and they invite others from the community without a place to go for the holidays to join them.
The young adults cook together and sit down around a family table. They make a special meal each month for the Manteghis.
Satrap likes to take on the father role for young adults, making them feel welcome, loved and part of a community like others did for him when he came to this country from Iran.
“The first step is communication,” he said, “[building a] relationship with them and walking them through the difficult times.”
Whether it’s visiting the mall, grocery store or Cedar Point, or just something as simple as having coffee and breakfast together, the Moab House gives the Manteghis and the young adults living there a chance to feel the love of living with a family.
The 270-square-foot apartment rooms give the young adults space when they want to be alone, but the house offers a community with support and safety.
The Moab House on Thursday celebrated the completion of renovations, including much of the community space and some of the private bathrooms.
It has transitioned over two years from a building with water damage and an office atmosphere into a warm space with home furnishings.
“It was rough,” said Consiglio of the building located in the Campus of Care.
Volunteers and donors rolled up their sleeves, including members of the Rush Church in Boardman; Hope Sweany, the owner of Intuitive Ink; and Century 21 Lakeside.
“We had a bunch of volunteers come out before we started construction on the bathroom. They came out and they demoed everything. They took everything down to the studs,” Consiglio said. She credits Sweany with painting the hallway and Century 21 with sourcing the furniture and painting the walls in the living room.
Consiglio said more still needs to be done, such as converting another shared bathroom into four separate bathrooms for privacy. One room will be renovated from a laundry room into a shared pantry.
The Moab House, which costs $96,000 annually to operate and relies on donations and grants, symbolizes the story of Moses leading the Israelites and their transition from a difficult past into a new promising future.
“The young adults – they’ve left a life of bondage and they are on their way to their promise, so that’s why we call Moab House the place before the promise,” Consiglio said.
“The biggest thing now is just learning how to walk with them,” Lori Manteghi said. “The consequences that they face in life are natural consequences. It’s not me having to tell them what they’re doing wrong. It’s just literally teaching and walking with them and just loving them.”
Pictured at top: From left are Marcie Consiglio and Lori and Satrap Manteghi.