The Pregnancy Care Center of Niles got a significant gift Sunday when members of Hope Community Church presented executive director Jennifer Smith with a check for $10,500.

The funds brought the center within just $1,500 of a total of $31,000 necessary for the organization to purchase a new permanent home in Niles.

The center has been moving toward the purchase of a residential home at 527 East Main St. The home would be double in size, according to Smith, compared to the space of the organization’s current location at 311 East Main St. in downtown Niles.

The donation made Sunday closed a significant gap in funding for the center, which needed $31,000 by the end of January to make a down payment on the property.

“We were amazed,” Smith said of the donation, which was presented as a surprise while she took part in the church’s Missions Moment segment of their Sunday service.

“It was so timely because we needed those funds by Jan. 31 in order to move forward on the purchase,” she said. “So we were definitely approaching the deadline quickly.”

Pastor Mike Smith of Hope Community Church explained the church budgets a certain amount of money toward missions each month. If at the end of the year an overage is left, they donate a percentage of that overage as well.

This year, the church was poised to donate a little more than $5,000. The church was aware of the Pregnancy Care Center’s desire to find itself a bigger, permanent home to continue to offer its services of aid to expectant mothers and families.

The donation was made, “knowing they (the center) were needing money for the house. But we didn’t put any kind of stipulation on it,” Smith said, meaning the funds could be used for any reason.

The donation put the center just $1,500 away from their goal.

“It was absolutely flabbergasting,” Smith said. “It’s just great to be able to work with (the church) and they are returning back anything that we’re doing for the community. They’re doing the same thing for people there.”

Smith was confidant the center would make their offer on the home by the end of the month. In addition to the $31,000 down payment, The center will need an additional $5,000 to $10,000 for repairs that will eventually need to be made to the property but, she said, that money could be paid over time and the property suitable for the center to move right in and continue operations without delay.

“It’s a whole lot more space,” Smith said. “And it’s always nice to feel like you have a permanent home in the community.”

Moving into a new space has been a desire of the center for some time.

“We just kind of trusted God to see what he did and it seems like we’re moving in that direction,” she said.

The organization is made up of four full time employees and Smith said around 100 volunteers help with everything from event planning to boutique organization, maintenance work, cleaning, mailings, data entry and technology.

“It takes an army,” she said.

If the additional space helps the center to operate on a larger scale, that will come at a convenient time.

Over the last year, Smith said the center has found itself able to extend its hours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday and Thursday evenings.

“It seems to be very proportional,” Smith said to the number of people they’re seeing at the center. “So our hope is if we’re able to be open more, we’ll be able to see more people.”

Between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2010, Smith said the Pregnancy Care Center logged 691 total visits to the center and 204 distinct visits from clients.

“We’re just glad to be available to help women,” she said.