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.
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“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.”
The volunteers were able to clean out two of the building’s three floors, Ferdon said. Among some of the biggest challenges the volunteers faced included hauling refrigerators, washing machines and ovens, among other appliances, up a set of stairs and placing them outside for scrappers to pick up.
When they finished the first two floors, a representative from Volunteers of America asked the volunteers if they could come back this Saturday to do the third floor.
“We got the first and second floor cleaned out,” Ferdon said. “Now, we got to deal with stuff on the third floor.”
In August 2018, Volunteers of America announced it had purchased the building at 703 Washington St. to house a 17-bedroom treatment center.
The Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority financed the $875,000 purchase as part of a $1.2 million loan that will also pay for renovation costs.
An additional $200,000 in funding was provided by the Columbus Regional Health Foundation, while program services will be funded by the Department of Child Services. The Indiana State Department of Health also provides funding for pregnant women who don’t have an open child services case.
There will also be kitchen and laundry room space, in addition to common living and meeting room areas, according to the conditional-use request application unanimously approved April 24, 2018 by the Columbus Board of Zoning Appeals.
Pregnant clients will be allowed to have up two children age 5 or younger live with them during their treatment, the application stated.
The Mission Columbus volunteers are looking forward to helping in any way they can, and will hold another one-day “blitz” this Saturday to clean out the third floor of the building, Ferdon said.
“We’re looking forward to just being able to move an important community initiative closer to its goal,” Ferdon said. “Our skill set is building things and making things and more physical labor. What we look forward to is that our skills have enabled somebody else to do what they need to do.”
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Call Asbury United Methodist Church at 812-372-4555 or email [email protected] for more information about Mission Columbus or information about volunteering.
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