New Catholic Charities facility to start programming next week

Ethan Weston/News Tribune Bishop Shawn McKnight uses holy water to bless the building which now houses the Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021 in Jefferson City, Mo. The charities held an open house and gave tours of their new space located off of Edmonds St.
Ethan Weston/News Tribune Bishop Shawn McKnight uses holy water to bless the building which now houses the Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021 in Jefferson City, Mo. The charities held an open house and gave tours of their new space located off of Edmonds St.

Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri is inching closer to finally opening the doors to its new facility, with at least one program scheduled to operate out of the space next week.

After almost two years in development, Catholic Charities' mid-Missouri health and social services center, located at 1015 Edmonds Street, was open for the public to explore Saturday.

Although mostly bare without furniture, the building features a large reception area near its entrance, space for a client-choice food pantry (complete with built-in coolers) on the main floor, and a chapel and several spaces for classrooms and exam rooms throughout the top two floors.

The new facility will house a food pantry, classrooms, exam rooms for health care providers to conduct screenings and basic health services, and space for Catholic Charities' current services - like disaster recovery, housing counseling and family immigration services.

Catholic Charities hosted an open house event Saturday for community members to learn more about the new facility and what it will offer.

"It's really exciting and really rewarding, but I'm even more ready to have it completely open and have people coming through and getting services and getting food and seeing our staff in their different offices," Executive Director Dan Lester said. "We've still got a few little tweaks here and there - furniture and things like that that are slowing us down - but that's okay."

Lester said Catholic Charities will begin offering its first program out of the building next week.

A Matter of Balance, the first program to be in Catholic Charities' new home, is an evidence- based program for older adults that helps to minimize fall risks by teaching basic exercises and staying active.

"We've been doing it in different places for awhile and now next week we're going to have our first class upstairs," Lester said. "It's going to be really exciting to see people coming and using this space."

The facility doesn't have an official opening day since it's still waiting on some furniture, Lester said, such as shelving for the food pantry, desks and chairs.

He said the organization was fortunate to avoid most of the supply shortages spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic during construction, but those shortages are now holding up furniture for the facility.

He said some furniture is arriving Monday, but the timeline for additional furniture varies.

Even without the desks and shelves, the space will still be in use throughout the week.

In addition to A Matter of Balance running upstairs, Lester said the Food Bank of Central and Northeast Missouri will begin delivering its senior food boxes to the facility.

Previously, Catholic Charities was relying on donated warehouse space for the food bank to deliver the boxes to. Now, they will be delivered to the center and volunteers will distribute them to the community from there.

"Different things are going to start happening slowly but surely," Lester said.

The open house began with Bishop W. Shawn McKnight blessing the facility, which was followed by remarks from Lester, Mayor Pro-Tem Dave Kemna and state Rep. Rudy Veit.

In recognition of its restorative social services, Kemna presented a Jefferson City proclamation declaring Oct. 16-22, 2021, as Catholic Charities Week.

At 10 years old, the Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri is a younger social services organization, Lester said, so it was nice to know it had found its role in Jefferson City.

"We're just really proud of that and grateful to live in such a caring and welcoming community that recognizes the importance not just of Catholic Charities, but just of social service and non-profit providers in general," Lester said.

Veit said the new facility is a testament to the power of volunteer organizations and the benefit they can have on the community.

Following a Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting, attendees were free to roam and explore the facility.

The property now housing Catholic Charities was most recently leased to Jefferson City Parks and Recreation, which then leased it to Capital City Productions for dinner theatre. Prior to that, it was Shikles Senior Center.

Catholic Charities bought the property from Jefferson City Housing Authority in 2019 after receiving a $200,000 donation from St. Mary's Hospital Foundation.

Lester said there were minimal surprises throughout the renovation and the foundation has remained in good condition.

During the renovation, work crews found the original cornerstone from the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette - the building's original owner. That cornerstone is now stored in the new facility's chapel.

"We were wondering what type of historical pieces we might find and that was really the biggie that we came up with and it's a beautiful piece to have," Lester said.

The progress on the building and the range of services it will provide is only made possible through Catholic Charities' multiple community partnerships.

The Food Bank, Jefferson City Housing Authority, Common Ground, Salvation Army, Central Missouri Community Action and the national organization Catholic Charities USA have been instrumental partners, Lester said, as they have provided resources and ideas for what the facility can provide the community.

"There's all kinds of partners who can use this space to provide services and that really makes it so much more effective for those folks that we serve," Lester said.