The co-founder of a group home to assist the children of drug-addicted women and residents of the Mill Creek Neighborhood both say they can work together, even after a potentially divisive ruling by the City Plan Commission.

With the support of the community, Lisa Matthews will continue with plans to open Jonathan’s Place at a house under renovation at 4707 Gaston Avenue.

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The plan commission recently denied requests by and 11-2 vote for zoning changes by Matthews and Robert Pitre, founder of Pitre Vision Home for troubled boys on Grigsby Avenue.

A year-old Planned Development District limits the concentration of group homes in the area, bounded by Fitzhugh Street, Haskell, and Live Oak avenues and Columbia Blvd.

Matthews and Pitre had each asked for exceptions to the PD.

The status of Pitre’s home is unresolved. Matthews says she will continue with her plans, citing state and federal laws that allow “community service” centers for as many as six handicapped children.

“We are very supportive in the concerns of the Mill Creek Neighborhood Association and the overall community,” says Matthews. “But these children need this home, and we have the legal right to open this home and will proceed.

“Jonathan’s Place will still be able to care for more than 100 children a year,” she says.

Trudy O’Reilly of the Mill Creek Neighborhood Association says Kid Net “does have a plan, a board of directors and a good track record. They’re sincere about what they want to do.”

Plans for Jonathan’s Place began almost two years ago when Matthews and business partner Phil Matteis co-founded Kid Net. After applying for necessary permits and 601.3 classification, the foundation purchased and continues to renovate the home on Gaston.

Matthews, a single mother of two and a foster parent, is focusing on the care of babies born to mothers addicted to drugs or exposed to drug environments.

The first child the Matthews family took in had no name, so they called him Jonathan. Hence the facility’s name.

Days before the plan commission ruling, Kid Net Foundation received a $35,000 matching grant from the Hoblitzelle Foundation. The ruling will apparently not affect the grant.

“We will release the funds once they are matched, and Jonathan’s Place has its permits in place,” says Hoblitzell Executive Vice President Paul Harris.

“This is a challenge grant to help the home get established,” Harris says, “and whether there are six children or 12, the home still needs gutters, windows, carpeting and painting. And these children need help.”