City Mission chapel, education building dedicated
Tours of the newly renovated City Mission chapel and education building were given after a dedication ceremony Sunday. The spaces were destroyed in a June 2015 fire.
Tours of the newly renovated City Mission chapel and education building were given after a dedication ceremony Sunday. The spaces were destroyed in a June 2015 fire.
In the days and weeks after the June 9, 2015, fire that ravaged the City Mission in Washington, Dean Gartland spent a lot of time reflecting.
“I started to think about all the things that we here at the City Mission lacked in terms of our facilities, education space, group space, not having a real good place for a medical clinic. Our dining room was so small … we could seat maybe 40 people,” Gartland, president and CEO of the nonprofit, said Sunday. “I think any staff or board member will attest to the fact that our trials do not stop. But we know that if we allow that work to happen, the patience that God is going to give us will pay off in the end.”
The fire that started in the kitchen led to a complete renovation of the shelter, which has provided services to homeless men, women and children for 75 years.
The men’s shelter was complete in June and a kitchen and dining room with seating for 150 have been in use. The newly renovated chapel and education building were dedicated during a ceremony Sunday.
“This work is really a combination and a collaboration and a cooperation between our government officials, our representatives, our local churches, our local businesses,” Gartland said. “We wouldn’t be standing here today if all them had not come together and really believed in and saw the value of what is going to be required for us to rebuild here at the City Mission.”
Future projects for the organization include the addition of a veterans shelter and renovations to Avis Arbor, which houses women and children. Individuals who take part in the program will receive job training at a future distribution center on Sheffield Street.
“Here, it’s not just feeding and housing people who are hungry and people who are homeless,” said state Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Carroll Township. “It’s showing them they are loved, and giving them a family and a community and a place to call home.”