A group of volunteers grabbed their gloves and work boots and put on a one-day “blitz” to prepare a downtown Columbus building being renovated into an addiction recovery center for expectant women and mothers.
Around 10 volunteers with Mission Columbus gathered for about four hours on Saturday morning to remove old furniture and appliances, take down towel racks and clean out what was left at the former post office at 703 Washington St., which will house the 23-bed Fresh Start Recovery Center.
The center, which will be run by Volunteers of America, will serve pregnant women and mothers struggling with addiction, helping them recover from drug addictions.
Steve Ferdon, leader of Mission Columbus, a ministry of Asbury United Methodist Church that organized the blitz, said the volunteers were “proud” to do their part to help address the opioid and substance abuse disorder epidemic plaguing the community.
“Everyone who was working there was proud to do their part to use what gifts they have to help solve that problem,” Ferdon said. “Everybody is humbled by the work that will be done at that facility.”
For more on this story, see Thursday’s Republic.
