Purple and white balloons led the way yesterday to St. Peter Church on the North Side where celebrants dedicated Gwen's Girls group home, a residential program for pregnant and parenting teens.

	John Heller, Post-Gazette Marcia Scott, left, of Mercy Hospital listens to volunteer Kata Vidakovich talk about the playroom during a tour yesterday of Gwen's Girls first group home in the former convent of St. Peter parish on Ridge Avenue, North Side. Click photo for larger image.

About 100 people, including founder and former city police Cmdr. Gwen Elliott, attended the dedication and reception afterward in the adjacent Cardinal Wright Regional School of St. Peter parish.

The Rev. Ralph Tajak, pastor of St. Peter, and the Rev. Joan Prentice, of Mount Ararat Baptist Church, touted the program's benefit to the community.

Gwen's Girls makes it possible for girls to see there's life after pregnancy, said Ms. Prentice in her sermonette.

Father Ralph called it fitting that Gwen's Girls has moved into the former convent of St. Peter parish, which has a long history of educating children.

There was much love poured into the work they did, Father Ralph said of the nuns who once lived at the convent. Now Gwen's Girls is setting the stage for a ministry of love in a different way.

While preparing for the dedication, Father Ralph said, he recalled that the parish was formed in 1850 and has had a connection with education ever since. In the beginning it was St. Peter School followed by Bishop Dominic High School, which later moved to combine with a school in Troy Hill. Today it is Cardinal Wright Regional.

Now Gwen's Girls broadens the scope to teens in need. The program does things the parish could not do and has contacts the parish does not have, Father Ralph said at the reception.

Founded in 2002 by Ms. Elliott, its chief executive officer, Gwen's Girls serves those ages 8 to 18.

With the facility that was dedicated yesterday, it now has a place where teens can be housed, receive emotional and spiritual support, and learn the life skills needed for parenting.

The facility, which had been vacant about three years, can house up to 16 teens. They will be referred by the court through either the child welfare or juvenile justice system, and can stay as long as the state allows.

Three teens are expected to move into the facility this week.

Rooms painted bright purple are simply furnished, with just beds and night stands.

Purple signifies women's rights, suffrage and royalty, said Ms. Elliott, who was dressed head-to-toe in lavender.

She said she started the program because, as a policewoman, she saw gaps in the system for troubled women and teens. The program is an outgrowth of brainstorming and discussions with officials of Allegheny County Children, Youth and Families.

The two-story building will be leased from the church. Also on site are a dining room, a large kitchen, dormitory-style bathrooms, nursing room, laundry room, a playroom for the babies, staff offices and a one-time chapel that may be used for exercise.

Teens will attend Oliver High School to continue their education.

Lynn Knezevich, Gwen's Girls executive director, said the program has received more than $450,000 in startup costs from a variety of sources, including Eden Hall Foundation, FISA Foundation, Heinz Endowments and PNC Foundation, as well as funding from the state through the efforts of state Reps. Frank Dermody, D-Oakmont, Dan Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill, and Jake Wheatley, D-Hill District; state Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park; and state Auditor General Jack Wagner.

Medical care for the teens and their babies will be provided in partnership with Mercy Hospital.