Our Place Needs More Space Fund-Raising Efforts Launched This Month; Current Location Is Bursting With Donated Items

Our Place is full.

The house at 1018 N. Elm that has been home to the West Central neighborhood’s emergency assistance organization since 1987 is simply stuffed. In the upstairs bathroom, an old, footed bathtub covered with an orange board holds rolls of tickets, reams of copy paper and a bag of old paperbacks.

Tiny closets are bursting with donated toys, school supplies, books and clothes. Boxes stacked under desks and tables hold more toys, gift wrap and containers of salt. The bookkeeper for Our Place keeps her binders, bank statements and account books crammed in another closet with a stuffed Barney doll and some sweaters.

And if there’s not enough room for the donated goods, you can bet there’s not enough room for the people.

“When we’re busy, we have people lined up out the door,” said Sister Marcia Schrapps, director of Our Place Community Ministries. “Wheelchair access is impossible when it gets so congested. There’s just not enough room to get organized.”

Supported and staffed by West Central Ministries member churches - including Westminster Presbyterian, Holy Trinity Episcopal, Grace Baptist, St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic, Salem Lutheran, St. Nicholas Orthodox, St. Paul’s Methodist and the King’s Community Church - Our Place served about 5,600 people in its first year. Last year, it served more than 20,500, officials said.

Waiting in line in the summer is not terribly uncomfortable, but officials say the winter gets pretty nasty.

“It’s cold and there’s no place to sit while they wait,” said out-going president Louise Chadez. “We believe in hospitality, but it’s hard to provide it with no space.”

Board members have been talking about expansion almost since Our Place’s inception. On July 8, they gave an official fund-raising push by holding a July Jubilee with entertainment, refreshments, prizes and a walking tour of Our Place. The event raised about $5,700 - a small step toward the many thousands needed to construct a new building.

Open Monday through Thursday, from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Our Place is a one-stop shop for emergency assistance. Needy residents of the West Central neighborhood are welcome to come to Our Place six times a year for food, bus tokens, blankets and sheets. People from all over can come daily for clothes, and take up to seven items for each member of the household.

“We talk to them a little, and find out if they fit in the geographic area. But if they say they need help, we don’t ask for proof of that,” said receptionist Jacki Meyers, who, like most of the other Our Place workers, is a volunteer.

In conjunction with the 4-H extension service, Our Place also offers cooking classes to teach people how to make the most of the supplies they’re given. With more space, officials say they could offer more of those hands-on classes.

“With more space we could also provide an area for people to sit and have a cup of coffee, and a room for children to play,” Chadez added. Officials foresee having everything on one floor with lots and lots of room for storage. They hope to build another building on the lot adjoining Our Place.

But when that may happen is yet unsure.