Founder hoping volunteers, clients flock to new fold

By JO ANN BOBBY GILBERT

EAST LIVERPOOL - It once housed Elks, but now a downtown building will cater to lost sheep, figuratively speaking.

Renovation work got under way Monday morning in the former Elks Lodge at 139 West Fifth St., where Leetonia resident Mark Altomare plans to house Lamb's House Ministry, offering counseling and more to those who have lost their way, like sheep left to wander without a shepherd.

A recovering alcoholic himself, Altomare said after his brother, Richard, was murdered in 1999, his own life held no joy.

"I used to sleep in a ditch. I tried to quit for several years. Then, I cried out one night after walking out of a police station. The next day, the desire to drink was gone."

In the spring 2000, Altomare dedicated his life to working with the Lord, and "nothing's been the same since."

He has spent much of that time on Lamb's House, operating it from his Leetonia home where he counsels those living the same nightmare he did, sometimes allowing them to stay with him.

When he came to East Liverpool to speak with someone with a problem, that person never showed up, but Altomare found what may have been his real calling to the city.

"The next thing I knew, I was looking at buildings," he said.

Realtors showed him several sites, but then he happened upon Tim Ginter, who told him, "Let me show you a building."

Ginter is an associate of Craig Newbold, founder of the faith-based New Life Academy and American Spirit Initiative downtown, and owner of the former Elks Lodge.

When he walked into the three-story building, Altomare said, "My heart leapt. I knew. Craig made us an offer that's really generous, but I have no money. I told him I'd pay the insurance, the taxes and utilities for a year."

A deal was struck, and Altomare now has a year to make good on his promise. If it flies, he will buy the building at that time.

First, though, the historic structure needs considerable work, primarily cosmetic but some structural, and he has rounded up some able-bodied and able-spirited volunteers to help.

On Monday, for example, 41 members of the Boardman High School football team labored for hours in the majestic building, scraping peeling paint from the walls to prepare them for painting.

The boys came voluntarily, according to Dave Kohout, founder of Talk is Cheap Ministry in Boardman, who is a member of Lamb's House board of directors.

He takes his program into the schools and, along with coach Mark D'Eramo, arranged for the boys to help out.

Later in the week, plans call for Leetonia and Salem football players and a ministry group from Camp Frederick to take up the paintbrushes.

The plumbing has been a nightmare of its own, with Altomare using his talents to repair numerous broken pipes, but yesterday he had to call in the experts.

With plans to open Aug. 1, Altomare is awaiting his certification from the Biblical Counseling Institute  he attended and will be the sole counselor for adults and young people who come to Lamb's House.

He hopes to use the huge hall on the first floor as a banquet room to feed the needy, hoping to get churches from the area involved in helping with the meals.

"If we can get churches to come in every six weeks and put food on the table, we can have a meal here every day," he noted.

The room also would be used for youth activities, with plans calling for a half-court basketball court. He said the nearby Ezra Center that caters to adolescents with the same types of needs also is hoping to use the facility.

The upper floors are already a labyrinth of sleeping rooms with adjacent restroom facilities, albeit in need of considerable repair, and eventually Altomare hopes to offer respite space for those who need it.

Those who can pay will be asked to. Those who can't will be expected to seek employment or help in the community and in the center.

He already has spoken with county Municipal Court judges Mark Frost and Carol Robb and asked them to offer Lamb's House as a faith-based alternative to defendants ordered to counseling. He plans to do the same with East Liverpool Municipal Court Judge Melissa Byers Emmerling.

He expects to receive some flak from community leaders concerned that this venture might bring "undesirables" into the city.

"Whenever God's at work, don't you think there is gonna be flak? I never did anything God wanted that I didn't get flak," he said with a smile, noting that the problem with drug- and alcohol-dependent residents already exists downtown; he wants to help resolve it.

Although he once worked in the family business and even had his own business for a while, today Altomare's only occupation is the Lamb's House, which is a licensed nonprofit agency dependent solely upon donations for survival.

At this point, he gets no salary, and if donations come in, Altomare said a bookkeeper - a volunteer, of course - will be needed.

But, Altomare knows God will provide, because He always has.

"We'll see where the Lord takes me. He didn't bring me here for nothing. If you're sick and tired of being sick and tired, we're here. This is the only program that works. He sent his Son here, and He has his arms opened."