A residential program for at-risk girls in Tooele is having problems of its own finding volunteers and funding to keep running.

The New Hope House, a program designed to help teenage girls get their lives back together, was created by Tooele minister Mary Bondi in August 2001. The program, which houses up to eight girls in the old convent at St. Marguerite’s church, is centered upon homeschooling, counseling, Bible study and peer mentoring.

“The New Hope House gives girls their life back, it’s a life controlling system,” Bondi said. “We get girls who are cutters and burners, and girls who are trying to control their weight with bulimia. Because we’re a prevention program, we’re trying to catch them before they’re addicted, before they have a baby at 15. We’re a safety net — a transitional place where they get more supervision than they could at home.”

Bondi, a native of Milwaukee, Wis., and reverend at the Assembly of God Church in Tooele, started New Hope House — which works under the umbrella program of Rocky Mountain Teen Challenge — after attending a women’s retreat in Colorado.

The old St. Marguerite’s convent was built to house 12 nuns. It has six bedrooms, three bathrooms, a chapel and an office. Before Bondi came to Tooele, Teen Challenge had already purchased the building from St. Marguerite’s.

New Hope House is funded entirely by donations from corporations and private citizens. The majority of donations go towards payroll for those employed at New Hope House. According to Bondi, it costs $3,000 per girl per month to run the program.

“The ones that can, pay what they can,” Bondi said. “Everybody pays what they can. We ask if they can split it with us or help us raise funds.”

In order to keep New Hope House operating, Bondi opened the downtown clothing store Anything Cute two years ago. The store, which sells name brand women’s clothing at discounted prices, is a non-profit business that donates all of its profits to New Hope House. The store’s merchandise is sold tax free because of that non-profit status.

Anything Cute was staffed by volunteers who got a 20 percent discount on merchandise. But lately, that pool of volunteers has dried up, causing Bondi to temporarily close the store three weeks ago — a move she’s considering making permanent.

“What I need besides volunteers is a volunteer coordinator,” Bondi said. “[Anything Cute] has so much potential to bless Tooele.”

Bondi said she’ll start searching for buyers for the space, which she leases, unless more volunteers can be found.

New Hope House works to help girls like 16-year-old Megan (all last names have been withheld to protect the girls), who has been in the program for five months. She described herself as “destructive” but said the program has helped her change.

Angel, 18, has been with the program for 10 months. She said she was looking for love when she became pregnant but realized that she would not be able to support her child. She decided to put the baby up for adoption. Since then, the program has helped her cope with her actions and decisions.

Jenna, 15, has also been getting help from the New Hope House for five months. She said she was full of anger and just wanted to be accepted when she ran away from home and became dependent on drugs and alcohol.

“The demand for the program is continuous,” Bondi said. “Locally we’re getting more parents and girls aware of us as a school. They don’t just need a school, they need the education and behavioral management on their choices. We’ve never turned anyone away.”

The 12 to 15 month-long program shows girls how to make wise decisions and believe in themselves, Bondi said. Once they’ve graduated from the program, the girls are sent back to their families. However, Bondi said that 10 to 15 percent of the girls don’t have a family support system.

“Our goal is to restore the family,” Bondi said. “When they complete the program and they don’t have a family support system, we find a support system for them. Our goal is to help these girls learn a new way to respond to the same old stuff. Life doesn’t change. They’re still going to face the same issues, but we’re giving them new responses.”

For more information about New Hope House, or to donate or volunteer at Anything Cute call Bondi at 435-843-5602.

Staff writer Missy Thompson contributed to this article.