Four years ago former Mt. Lebanon resident Kate Fletcher left the area with about $50,000 she had raised, determined to start a boarding school in Kenya for girls who were orphaned by AIDS.

She turned that dream into a reality, and today, with the support of a number of local churches and community organizations, Mrs. Fletcher operates Hekima Place as a home to 53 girls and one young boy.

Now she's setting her sights even higher.

She is hoping to raise $500,000 to create a permanent home for her charges. She would like to move her operation from rental property to a 10-acre plot she has purchased about 10 miles away overlooking the Southern Rift Valley.

To jump-start the effort, Mrs. Fletcher, 71, withdrew $40,000 from her personal retirement fund and donated it to the venture.

In the past, she has used her Social Security checks to pay salaries and bills at Hekima Place.

Now she and a board of directors in Pittsburgh are embarking on a capital campaign to raise the $500,000 required to erect six buildings on the complex.

Her dream is to have four houses for children, each with a house mother. She also would like two additional houses -- one for the volunteers who visit and work, and the second to serve as her home and the administrative center of Hekima Place.

She's hoping to be able to move her current residents to the new complex by December 2010 and to eventually expand to house a total of 60 children.

It's an extraordinary effort and an ambitious fund-raising schedule, she conceded.

But, she said, she started her effort on a wing and prayer, and has followed her heart each step of the way -- and has been successful so far.

"I know this is a leap of faith. But how can people think God is not involved in this when it's come so far?" Mrs. Fletcher said. "I mean, I was someone who wouldn't even go to the movies alone, and then one day I got on a plane and went to Africa and did this."

Jim DiPiero, of Mt. Lebanon, president of the local Hekima Place board of directors, said the board understood it has its work cut out in raising funds.

"We understand her vision. We want to get out of the rental because we just don't know if it will be available for the long term. Plus we want the permanence of having a place to call home for the girls, a place they know will be there," Mr. DiPiero said.

He said an official capital campaign kickoff will be held in the coming weeks after the board has a chance to meet and organize the effort.

Another Hekima Place supporter, Nancy McCann, also of Mt. Lebanon, said she was looking forward to joining the board and helping to raise the funds.

She said she had been inspired by Mrs. Fletcher's efforts since first reading newspaper accounts.

Ms. McCann recently visited Hekima Place along with her 19-year-old daughter, Rebecca Robbins.

"It was much better than I ever expected. I went over there thinking that the girls had difficult lives. I think I expected there would be a level of sadness or I would feel sorry for them.

"But it was completely different. There is a level of joy and happiness that just radiates from these kids. They are just so thankful for the lives they have, so appreciative," Ms. McCann said.

She said that since she was able to see firsthand the improvements in the girls' lives made by Mrs. Fletcher's efforts, she was anxious to help with the fundraising for the permanent home for Hekima Place.

"It's one thing to give to a charity and not see the impact. But I can see what she is doing for these girls. It's a stable family atmosphere; they have relationships with each other, and they look at each other as sisters; and they have great adoration for her," Ms. McCann said.

The Rev. Kenneth White, who is pastor of St. Scholastica Parish in Aspinwall, has been one of Mrs. Fletcher's supporters from the beginning. He was pastor at St. Thomas More, which was previously Mrs. Fletcher's parish, and he allowed her to raise funds among his congregation for the startup and continued support of Hekima Place.

This weekend, he will welcome her to his current parish to make a fundraising pitch there.

Father White commended Mrs. Fletcher for undertaking such a daunting task at an age when others are "sitting back in our Stratolounger and taking care of our arthritis."

He said Mrs. Fletcher "leads with her heart" and spurs others into action, helping to make her vision become a reality.

"She's like a lady who cuts the path with a machete," he said. "I have so much admiration for her."

For more information about or to donate to Hekima Place, go to www.hekimaplace.org.