She holds the lease for the house. Through her work in Beaufort County schools, she knows who is in need. All Loretta Ebison is waiting for is the means to make her dream a reality.

Ebison is executive director of the nonprofit Higher Heights Human Services, Inc., an organization serving pregnant and parenting adolescents in Beaufort and surrounding counties. The organization’s purpose is to equip young mothers with the skills they need — parenting, education, the ability to build support systems and avoid risk-taking behaviors — to create a positive life for themselves and their child. Ebison’s goal is to establish a residential maternity home in Beaufort County: a safe place where young mothers can get one-on-one mentoring/life-coaching assistance to build their skillset, as well as child care so that they can continue school and/or work a part-time job.

Through her work with Higher Heights, Ebison was hired by Beaufort County Schools to run its Healthy Outcomes program, funded by Vidant-Beaufort and Vidant-Pungo hospitals. There are 44 pregnant or parenting adolescents in the program.

“I see the need hands-on, and we definitely need this,” Ebison said.

The closest residential maternity home for adolescents is in Charlotte, but with Beaufort County’s teen pregnancy rates consistently ranking in the top 25 of North Carolina counties — as high as No. 12, as low as No. 42 in the past decade — the numbers support the existence of one in eastern North Carolina.

The house Ebison leased from the county for $1 a year could be a home. But with warped doors that won’t lock, mold on walls and carpets, a leaky roof and nonworking HVAC, it needs a lot of work first. To the tune of $120,000, according to Ebison.

“I love a good challenge but I can’t do it all myself,” Ebison said. “It’s going to take a community effort and I love our community. I think we have a great community … we really need the community to come together and help. I believe the resources are here.”

United Way provides some Higher Heights funding, as does Harvest Church, and while Ebison and her husband Willie have used personal resources to support the nonprofit, the $25,000 it will take to get the ball rolling on repairs hasn’t yet materialized.

On a tour through the home, Ebison points out the kitchen and bathrooms that need to be gutted. She also points out the intact dental molding in the dining room and the quality of wood on the stairs and banisters. Old records from when the house was used as storage for the county fill the dining room and downstairs hall.

“We had a cleanup day scheduled, but because of the mold, we were advised not to do it,” Ebison laughed. “It doesn’t scare me. I have a vision and it’s going to come forth somehow or other.”

Higher Heights will hold a yard sale at Mauri Evans State Farm, 15^th Street, Washington, on June 1 from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Donations to the yard sale can be taken to Kingdom Kids Academy, 148 Avon Avenue. For more information on Higher Heights’ mission, visit www.higherheightshs.org or call Loretta Ebison at 252-945-3089.