It's a good thing most people don't have to go to the extremes Sharon McGinley went through to see, I mean really see, the light.

A near-fatal accident will do that to you.

But you get the sense that McGinley would go through it all again, surgically screwed-together spinal cord and all, if it meant giving her enough courage to start Eddie's House, a transitional program designed to support kids who have aged out of foster care.

"Before," says McGinley, "I would stand at the plate, but I wasn't willing to take a swing."

Before, McGinley, 49, and her husband, Joe, senior vice president of investments for United Bank of Switzerland, lived a good life, a lush life, really. The Ardmore couple worked, played hard, and did their share of good deeds that frequently landed them on the society pages. They hosted plenty of charity events at their mansion and sat on a respectable number of boards.

Then came the accident.

In 1993, the sailboat the couple had chartered in St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands ran aground, sending Sharon flying and severing her spinal cord.

"I remember going to this awesome place and not wanting to come back. Peace and happiness filled my body," she recalls.

She believes she left the earth, only to return again - with a heightened sense of purpose.

Which propelled her to start Eddie's House.

"Because I wasn't afraid to die, I realized I had been afraid to live," she says. "What was I waiting for?"

Place to call home

Now in its second year, Eddie's House provides apartments, furnishings, and money for young people referred to her until they can independently establish themselves. They're expected to continue their education or look for a job, and have two years to stabilize themselves.

"We're giving them what they need, like our parents did for us," McGinley says. "Don't we want to know that when our car breaks down, we have someone to call? They had no one to call.

"This is like saying, 'I've got your back.' "

McGinley sponsored three people last year. One, Donna Smallwood, now works for her as a life-skills coach.

"My own experiences have helped me help other people," says Smallwood, 30, now a wife and mother of four who helps new residents with settling into their apartments, paying bills, and searching for a job.

McGinley got the idea for Eddie's House (www.eddieshouse.org) through her work with the Support Center for Child Advocates, a Philadelphia nonprofit that does pro-bono work for neglected and abused kids. Over the years, she listened to former clients, as they gathered for monthly meetings, talk about what happened to them.

She already knew what would likely occur once 18-year-olds aged out of foster care: 25 percent wind up homeless because they have nowhere to live, and 50 percent of the young women end up pregnant.

But what stunned McGinley was the feedback Smallwood and others gave her about the unspeakable abuse they suffered in foster care - and the endless shame that paralyzes and prevents them from moving forward even as emancipated adults.