In the 1900s, Bob Kregel of Kregel Publications built a 6,000-square-foot warehouse at 543 Eastern Avenue SE. In the 1990s, it was donated to Calvary Church, who used it for storage. Last year, Calvary gave it to Urban Family Ministries, and they are giving it new life as the Urban Family Community Center.
“We gutted the whole thing, the duct work is being installed, and the parking lot and landscaping is being done,” said Scott Vogel, executive director. “We eliminated a separate entryway for the upstairs and made one entryway for the entire building. We’ll be adding an elevator, and redoing the restrooms to make them handicap accessible. Everything will be brand new except the outside walls.”
And speaking of those outside walls, the front brick facade has been restored. The remaining exterior will be painted this spring. New front windows open up the space and allow in natural light.
Vogel estimates the total investment will reach $500,000. UFM received a $24,400 grant from the Frey Foundation, and a $4,000 Face Forward grant from Neighborhood Ventures for facade improvements. A capital campaign for the remaining funds is underway.
“We’ve been looking at different areas throughout the city where we could have a center like this,” Vogel said. “It’s in a neighborhood on the bus lines, and it’s in the community where we’re already involved with the kids that live here.”
A kitchen and attached community room will alternate roles as a drop-in center and a gathering space for Bible studies. A pool table and TVs for playing video games or watching sports provide other recreation. UFM’s offices will be on the second floor, along with a conference room and a small library for mentoring, tutoring, or quiet reading.
Other planned activities include after-school programs, AA meetings, parenting skills classes, tutoring, and mentoring. An on-site art studio will provide space for art classes in a variety of mediums, including photography, painting, and pottery.
“We have worked with the Junior Master Gardeners program every year. We have kids who go through it and become certified Junior Master Gardeners," said Vogel, who used to be in the landscaping business.
“We asked ourselves, ‘What can we bring here that’s going to help deter drug use, drug dealing, and violence in the neighborhood?’”
Vogel hopes the activity at the community center will push out some of the bad behavior. His desire is that the “kids and families in the neighborhood will get their arms around the idea, and that this place will be a helpful, useful, and safe place to be.”
Wayne Visbeen, of Visbeen Associates is the designer.
Source: Scott Vogel, Urban Family Ministries
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