Some women just need somewhere solid to stand.
Good Ground exists to be that place — offering mentorship, practical resources, and a community of people who believe that every woman deserves a path toward stability, dignity, and hope.
Why Good Ground Exists
There's a gap between crisis and stability. Good Ground lives there.
For women leaving incarceration, homelessness, or other crisis situations, the hardest part often isn't the crisis itself — it's what comes after. The system provides emergency help. Long-term stability is harder to find.
Good Ground was born out of the belief that what women in transition need most isn't just resources — it's relationship. Someone to walk alongside them through the hard middle ground between where they've been and where they're trying to go.
Inspired by Isaiah 58:11, the name Good Ground points to what becomes possible when a life is supported, nurtured, and given room to grow.
Connection, equipping, and someone to walk with you.
Good Ground supports women in transition through three interconnected pathways:
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Housing referrals
Food support
Employment connections
Counseling referrals
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Faith & Finances
Work Life
Life Skills Workshops
Parenting Classes
Cooking Demonstrations
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One-on-one mentor match
Twice-monthly meetings
• Encouragement & accountability
• Long-term relationship
These aren't one-time services. Good Ground is built on sustained relationships — the kind that step in and serve not just in a crisis but through the long work of rebuilding.
Where Good Ground Is Today
Honest about the season. Clear about the direction.
Good Ground is currently in a rebuilding phase. The program is not actively enrolling new participants while Garden 58 works to establish new leadership and strengthen the program's foundation.
What exists right now is real, even if it's not yet everything the vision calls for. In 2025, Good Ground walked alongside five women in transition. Four of them successfully moved into independent living. Two women received dental care through a partnership with a local dentistry practice — small moments of dignity that meant something large.
The direction is clear. The work continues. And the community is invited to be part of building what comes next.
A Program Highlight
Faith & Finances: building toward independence.
One of Good Ground's most concrete offerings is the Faith & Finances class — a financial education program designed specifically for women working to establish stability. Participants who complete the program are eligible for a matched savings contribution of up to $1,000.
It's a practical tool with a meaningful impact: women leave not just with knowledge, but with a financial foundation they've built themselves.
The vision: a home where women can rebuild.
Good Ground's long-term hope is to establish a transitional home in Cherokee County — a physical place where women in transition can experience additional support during a season of rebuilding.
That vision requires committed program leadership, trained volunteers, sustainable funding, and community partnerships. We're working toward it. And we believe the community of people who make Garden 58 possible is exactly the people who can help make it a reality.
If that vision stirs something in you — as a donor, a volunteer, a church, or a community partner — we want to hear from you.
There's room for you in this work.
Good Ground is actively building the team it needs to serve women well. Current opportunities include:
Mentor — Commit to a one-on-one relationship with a woman in transition. Meetings twice a month. Long-term consistency is the point.
Life Skills Instructor — Teach a class in an area of your expertise: finances, cooking, parenting, work readiness, or another practical life skill.
Part-Time Program Director (paid position) — 10–20 hours per week. Good Ground is seeking someone to lead the program as it rebuilds. If you have experience in social services, ministry, or community development, we'd love to talk.
Prayer & Support — Not everyone is called to direct service. Praying consistently for women in transition and for this program's growth is a real and needed contribution.
Additional volunteer opportunities may emerge in transportation, resource navigation, and community engagement as the program grows.
Your giving builds the ground beneath someone's feet.
Good Ground's most pressing financial need right now is the Faith & Finances matched savings program — up to $1,000 matched per participant. Every dollar given to this fund directly supports a woman building her own financial future.
Long-term, sustaining Good Ground will require funding for program operations, staffing, and — one day — a physical transitional home. Gifts to Garden 58 help make all of it possible.
Our Story: Rooted in a vision for restoration.
Good Ground began as a vision in 2020 and 2021 — a belief that women transitioning out of crisis deserved more than a hand out of immediate danger. They deserved a community that would walk with them all the way to stable ground.
The program originally operated under the name Revolving Door, focused specifically on women leaving incarceration. As it grew, the name changed to Good Ground — a name that better reflected both the breadth of women it serves and its connection to Isaiah 58 and the mission of Garden 58.
The path hasn’t always been straight. But the heart of it hasn’t changed: willing hands walking alongside women as they rebuild, grow, and move toward greater stability.
The Mission Of Good Ground
“In 2025, Good Ground opened its doors to women in need of more than just a roof overhead — they needed a place to breathe, to heal, and to rebuild. Our home became that place: safe, beautiful, and full of hope, where the women who walked through our doors could exhale and begin imagining their next chapter.
While in the program, residents didn't just find shelter — they found a path forward. Through our Faith & Finances and Work Life classes, participants gained real, practical tools for financial and workplace literacy. One-on-one mentors walked alongside each woman, connecting her to the resources she needed most. The result: women leaving Good Ground equipped for sustainable, independent living within 12 months of entering the program. Getting to have a front row seat of the impact Good Ground had on our residents was a blessing in my life and an honor to be a part of.
Today, the shape of Good Ground has changed — but I believe the heart never will. We still exist to come alongside women in seasons of transition and help them find solid ground beneath their feet. We're building strong partnerships with local resources so that every woman we meet has a network ready to support her. And Good Ground remains committed to women and families in many ways including — individual mentorship, Faith & Finances, life skills classes and prayer support that meets people right where they are.” – Maggie Schwarting