A new 24,000-square foot building will allow Ministry with Community to offer classrooms, offices for outreach workers, and multipurpose spaces to better serve the 2,000 who seek shelter there each year.
Groundbreaking for the new building at 500 N. Edwards, site of the former Johnson-Howard Lumber yard, will take place at 3 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10 and the community is invited to attend.
Rob Oakleaf, Executive Director of Ministry with Community, says that the new facility will not mean an increase in staff, but instead will allow Ministry greater flexibility in working with those it serves.
Currently there are agencies that would like to do more work with those Ministry with Community serves, but there is little space to do so, Oakleaf says. The new building will offer classrooms, offices for outreach workers and multipurpose space to better host partner organizations.
The new building will feature more adequate public areas and dining space, as well.
Ministry with Community is a resource center and daytime shelter for those struggling with homelessness, poverty, unemployment, mental illness and other challenges. Ministry with Community strives to provide the highest quality services to members in a friendly, open and dignified setting.
The $6 million Rebuilding Lives Campaign to fund the new building launched in 2014. The building is expected to open in the summer of 2016. The building currently being used will be put up for sale.
The project received robust support from area foundations, hundreds of individuals, families, businesses and places of worship, Hopkins says. The campaign also got huge momentum from a $1 million challenge grant from the Bill and Julia Van Domelen Challenge that came with a pledge that they would match all future donations for the new facility dollar-for-dollar up to $1 million.
The success of this campaign is a testament to the amazing work that happens every day at Ministry with Community and the community’s recognition of the need for a more efficient and respectful space,” says Jack Huiskamp, co-chair of the campaign along with Patti Huiskamp.
Source: Rob Oakleaf , Ministry with Community
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