Nonprofit addresses former inmates’ need for housing

Where does someone go when they’ve been released from prison?

Kingdom Boundaries wants to answer that question with residential dwellings that provide a safe place for ex-inmates, both men and women.

Perry Cross is staying in an apartment building on Summit Avenue dubbed The Carpenter’s Shop, which includes six beds and the nonprofit’s offices. He knew before he left the Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield last September that he would have a place to go.

“When I found out I was going to come here, I was pretty happy,” said Cross, who served almost 6 1/2 years for sexual contact with a child younger than 16. “I’d heard a lot of good things about it. I thought I was going to have to wait until October, but my case manager, she said, ‘Well, we got a place for you.’ It was a relief, a lot.”

Cross attends two Bible studies through Kingdom Boundaries and attends two churches in Sioux Falls: God’s Grace and Freedom’s Gate. That support, a parole agent whom he describes as “a young guy but a really good guy” and the Kingdom’s Boundaries staff are what he needs in his life right now, Cross said.

Surgery last autumn and a fall that resulted in five broken ribs have halted Cross’ job search, but when he’s ready, Kingdom Boundaries will be there for him, said Kelly Schelling, business manager.

She knows what Cross and other recently released inmates face.

“It’s hard for a felon to find a job,” she said. “All these jobs out here, but it’s not as easy as it looks like it should be.”

The Kingdom Boundaries website has collected various statistics. Two-hundred people are released from the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls every month, it says, with 4,000 released annually from all six state institutions.

In the United States, 76 percent of former inmates return to prison within five years. An inmate leaving prison does so with none of the necessities such as toothpaste and soap.

And a 4,757 percent increase in women being incarcerated in South Dakota since 1980 has been recorded.

House of Grace on 12th Street is the Kingdom Boundaries’ ministry for women who have been released from prison. The program can help 15 women at a time and opened in 2025 in a building that had been used by other social service agencies.

“When they get to the door, they’re overwhelmed, and they don’t know what the next step is going to look like,” said Andrea Christianson, coordinator at the House of Grace. “You bring them into a bedroom, and they don’t have to wonder if someone is looking at them while they’re sleeping. They take a breath, they just breathe.”

The three adjacent Kingdom Boundaries facilities for men serve about 70 people. The Master’s House apartment has 11 beds, while The Holy Spirit Inn is a house with four beds.

The faith-based nonprofit organization that grew into Kingdom Boundaries started in 2013 with “just one man in a hotel room,” Schelling said. Founders Jeff and Rhonda Haverhals would go into a prison and build relationships with the inmates. They realized that inmates facing release often had no place to go.

The Haverhals placed that first parolee in a camper in their driveway, then moved him to a hotel. Their ministry spread among members of their Reformed Church in northwest Iowa, then they began looking for housing in Sioux Falls.

Today, many denominations contribute and help Kingdom Boundaries, Schelling said. There are no restrictions on the faith backgrounds of those whose applications are accepted.

“As far as the people coming here, we’re going to accept anybody,” Christianson said. “We’ve had Muslims here, all denominations. But if they’re going to come here, they’re going to hear about Jesus and the word of God.”

Kingdom Boundaries does not have a facility where children can live with their mothers, but that is a future goal. Until then, the focus remains on adult men and women whose needs must be met physically, emotionally and spiritually, Schelling said.

“We help them accept the fact that we’re here to help them — hold them accountable, yes, but also walk alongside them as they transition into this freedom again,” she said. “We want them to build a life that they can be proud of and have a good stewardship of the life God has provided for them.”

Creating a place of peace is essential, Christianson said. Those who use Kingdom Boundaries’ services are faced with responsibilities that they haven’t encountered for some months or years, including finding employment. Kingdom Boundaries staff help people fill out online applications and contact prospective employers.

Staff also stress the need to rebuild relationships.

“We encourage them if they have positive relationships, to have them come and visit, pick them up and go out for a meal,” Schelling said. “We are open to assisting in that and allowing that to happen here. They have to have accountability, but we also encourage them to build that life back up.”

House of Grace collaborates with women in rebuilding relationships with their children and relationships with their own mothers, who often have been taking care of their grandchildren. Zoom meetings are set up with family members who live elsewhere.

“A lot of times, transportation is an issue, the money to do things is an issue, they need counselors or parenting classes, anything they can do to prove to their family they’re worthy of having their kids back,” Christianson said.

Other agencies aid. EmBe’s Dress for Success program helps the women find clothing for work interviews and in preparing resumes. Center of Hope has developed a new reentry program that offers mentoring, budgeting and employment. Three months’ employment with the Center of Hope’s bicycle and clothing programs can prepare for future jobs.

A native of northwest Iowa, Schelling had volunteered in children’s ministry and worked full time for about 15 years before moving to the Sioux Falls area and working with a preschool. With an unplanned-for decade looming ahead of her, she prayed for guidance.

Then, the phone rang, and she was asked to consider joining Kingdom Boundaries.

“It was an easy yes for me, which now I look back and think, why was that so easy? Well, it was exactly where God wanted me in this time period.”

Christianson, who had worked in real estate for years, found herself in an abusive marriage, she said. Through prayer, she learned how to forgive the person who had hurt her the most, separating the person from what they had done. The lessons she learned about forgiveness come into play with her current work.

“We (as a society) don’t see people coming out of prison as worthy of being loved,” she said. “But each one of us could so easily wind up in prison from one bad decision.”

Christianson’s current husband serves as Kingdom Boundaries’ chaplain, and she became familiar with the group’s ministry.

“I just fell in love with everybody here and giving them all a chance to succeed and knowing love,” she said. “It’s not a job — this is my life, and I love it, and I just want to try to help as many people as I can.”

As is the case with many other Christian ministries, finances can be a never-ending issue, Schelling said.

“Finding the right resources for each individual can be a long process, and we’re here to support them the best we can,” she said. “As God continues to provide for us, we are sometimes in awe. The balance in the checkbook doesn’t look very good, but by the grace of God, he sends somebody with a donation of what is needed: an item, a skill or a check.”