June 29 holds special significance for House of Providence (HOP).

It was on this date three years ago that the nonprofit organization closed on the purchase of 118 acres along Barber Rd. in Oxford Township.

It was on this date four days ago that the six foster girls under HOP’s care moved into their brand-new 8,928-square-foot home on the property.

To celebrate, HOP held an open house Friday night during which supporters, friends and the home’s new residents all gathered to tour the place, eat ice cream, pray together and give thanks.

Jason Dunn, who co-founded HOP with his wife Maggie in 2012, said the house and its surroundings offer the girls an atmosphere that’s “therapeutic, calming” and “very bucolic.”

“It is everything we envisioned . . . We love it,” he said.

“Nature is so healing and we’re excited to have them in such a healing environment,” Maggie said.

HOP provides 24-hour care for foster youth who have been abused, neglected or unable to find a permanent family.

The new house is spacious, yet still retains plenty of warmth with special features such as a piano near the front door and Amish-made wooden furniture that includes a rustic dining table and benches, dressers and bed frames.

“It’s not an institution. It’s a home,” Jason said.

Each of the beds has a quilt on it that was handmade by members of the Oakland County Quilt Guild. When the girls eventually leave HOP, the quilts will go with them.

“This is theirs,” Jason said.

During the open house, the Dunns touched on the fight they endured to make this home a reality in Oxford.

For the last three years, they’ve faced staunch opposition from a group of residents in Oxford’s northeast quadrant – an area known as horse or hunt country – who believe HOP does not belong in an agriculturally-zoned district because they view it as an institutional use. These residents, who have expressed concerns and complaints at numerous public meetings, believe HOP will negatively impact the area’s existing rural character, their quality of life and their property values by increasing population density and traffic on gravel roads.

Jason said they “never imagined” in their “wildest dreams” that they would be walking into “such an incredible battle.”

Despite this opposition, Maggie said HOP received plenty of support from other community members.

As she looked out into the crowd at the open house, Maggie said she saw “many faces that came to many township meetings” to tell officials that even though “there’s a couple loud people” who are against HOP’s plans, “we are more and we say (bring these kids) to Oxford.”

Maggie thanked HOP supporters for coming together and in one voice declaring, “These kids, they can live wherever the heck they want to live.”

According to the township, it received approximately 180 emails supporting HOP between April and June this year.

“We’re battling for some of the greatest, strongest, (most) resilient young ladies and young men on the planet . . . We just want to thank you again for staying in the battle with us,” Jason told the crowd.

During his remarks, Pastor Chris Brooks, of Woodside Bible Church in Troy, encouraged those present to see HOP’s children not as “the world sees them,” but with “eyes of faith.” He urged them to look past their “brokenness” and view each of them “as a special gift from God.”

Using stock market lingo, Brooks said each one of these foster girls is like an initial public offering (IPO), which is when a company begins selling stock to the general public. He told HOP supporters they “get the privilege of being in on the ground floor” before these young people grow up to become successes like Disney, Apple and Microsoft.

When asked about their plans to build more houses on the 118 acres, Jason said, “We’re just going to settle for a little bit, breathe and (get) our bearings.”

Originally, HOP had planned to also construct a house in Oxford for foster boys , but, according to Jason, that’s no longer necessary.

“We already have the house for boys (on 70 acres) in Rose Township,” he said. “That’s up and running, and going great.”