It started with two women who said yes.
In July 2015, Amber Hornsby and Rachel Hanus moved into a house in St. Paul with two pregnant women who had nowhere else to go.
ESTHER Homes is what came next.
How it started
Amber and Rachel met in Mozambique in 2012 at a hands-on ministry school.
By 2013 both had moved to the Twin Cities.
For two years they worked full-time and spent their off hours building relationships with youth shelters and pregnancy resource centers around one question: what if a pregnant woman in crisis had a home to go to? In July 2015, they moved into the St. Paul house together with ESTHER's first two families.
We began with a house. We discovered the power of a home.
When Amber and Rachel moved into that St. Paul house in 2015, they didn’t have a perfect program, just a willingness to open their lives to pregnant women who needed a safe place to land.
What began there became far deeper than housing. Kitchen table conversations, shared meals and newborn arrivals created a true community. Women were never treated as problems to solve, but seen as whole people with strength, wisdom and the agency to shape their own futures.
Over the years, the women of ESTHER Homes taught us that true stability takes more than a roof. It takes consistent and intentional relationships, practical help and space to breathe - whether that’s showing up at a prenatal appointment, navigating childcare, celebrating wins or answering the phone long after a move-out.
This is the ESTHER Way: we don’t step into a woman’s story to rescue her. We come alongside her to listen, build trust and support her as she takes her next courageous steps.
Today, we remain rooted in our founding belief: no pregnant woman in crisis should walk alone. As we grow to meet real demand, we protect this relational heart so more families experience safety and belonging.
Because when a mother is given room to rise, her child feels it, her family carries it and the entire community changes.
A note from Amber.
There are moments when I walk through the house and remember how all of this began.
I remember wondering if we were ready. I remember knowing that we did not have every answer. And I remember believing that sometimes the most important thing we can offer another person is our willingness to make room and stay present.
Over the years, ESTHER Homes has grown and changed. So have I. The women who have called this place home have challenged me, taught me, trusted me and allowed me to witness both the difficulty and the beauty of becoming. They have shown me that courage does not always look loud or dramatic. Sometimes courage looks like filling out another application, attending an appointment, asking for help, trying again after disappointment or believing that your story can still move forward.
Those moments have shaped the heart of ESTHER Homes.
We believe in the strength of women. We believe healthy community matters. We believe stability is built one decision, one relationship and one courageous step at a time. And we believe no woman should have to carry the weight of pregnancy, crisis and an uncertain future by herself.
I am deeply grateful for every woman who has trusted us with a part of her story and for every person who has helped make this community possible! What began with one home has become something I could not have fully imagined, but I believe we are still only at the beginning.
With gratitude,
Amber Hornsby, Co-Founder & Executive Director
This story is still being written.
What began as a home has become a community. What comes next will be built by all of us.
Become a monthly partner. Be part of the ESTHER Homes story.
