Our Family staff moved into the Leonard Banes Campus and a virtual grand opening was celebrated over Zoom on November 12th. The new $2.3 million campus features 10,600 square feet of new offices, shared rooms for client and staff meetings, a large lobby and client intake spaces.
The new, trauma informed design includes natural light in an overall space that acknowledges that trauma exists and will actively work to create a safe space where the clients trauma is understood and not exacerbated. Private meeting rooms, a quiet room for individuals in crisis and a welcoming lobby all provide dignity and privacy to those we serve.
Nearly all of Our Family staff and programs are housed at the consolidated campus, thus creating a comprehensive suite of transformative services designed to help lift under-resourced teens, families, and adults out of homelessness, offering them an unbroken path to stability.
Centrally-located, on the site of our former Alvernon office, the campus houses Our Family’s vast array of housing services, case management, intake and referral, and counseling and therapeutic programs. The Center for Community Dialogue & Training will continue to operate at their suite on the Community Foundation Campus.
We are deeply grateful to all who gave a gift to our capital campaign and made the Leonard Banes Campus a reality, particularly the Connie Hillman Family Foundation for providing a $150,000 challenge match which has helped us raise $639,705 of our $500,000 capital campaign.
While we are very thankful and excited to be settling into our new home, we are also exercising caution with increased safety measures as COVID cases continue to rise. These measures include hybrid work schedules with staff alternating days working in the office with days working from home to reduce the number of individuals in the building to half of our usual capacity. All staff and visitors to the building are required to wear a mask and we have set up hand sanitizing stations throughout the building. At this time all in-person meetings on the campus are by appointment only.
A recording of the virtual grand opening with a photo tour of the campus is available to view at: https://youtu.be/EP_9XYwYREQ
