There were donors in suits, volunteers in sportswear, a choir in black and leaders of Pontiac's biggest homeless shelter-- Grace Centers of Hope -- greeting city officials Wednesday to dedicate a newchild care center.

A few steps away, children oblivious to the crowd frolickedwith new toys and beamed at their mothers.

"This is so good for the kids," Sherri Hinds said,as daughter Emma Ferguson, 4, slid down a small plastic slide in the Hands ofHope center.

The center, paid for with $300,000 in donations and nogovernment funding,is for the kids of parents enrolled in the Grace Centers of Hope residentialprograms for substance abusers and homeless people, development directorMichelle Atwell said.

Hinds, 24, said she was living in St. Clair Shores with aheroin addiction when she entered the faith-based counseling program inDecember.

She and her daughter are living at the center during theyearlong program. Drug-free now, Hinds said she plans to start classes atOakland Community College in September.

The new Hands of Hope center, at 18 E. Pike St., came aboutwhen a state inspector told Grace Centers of Hope it couldn't run an unlicensedday care center in its main building, Hands of Hope director Melissa Rodriguezsaid.

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