For 39 years, The Kitchen, Inc. has been there for our neighbors in need. Sister Lorraine Biebel began serving meals to the homeless in 1983. From that first meal until today, The Kitchen has evolved from a soup kitchen into a leader in our community to provide stability and purpose to those we serve. Part of that evolution includes moving from The Kitchen’s long-time campus on Commercial Street.
To accomplish our vision, we launched a capital campaign in 2015 to pay the cost of new campus construction. On June 8th, The Kitchen broke ground on our new O’Reilly Family Campus. The construction process includes two phases.
Phase One is our new Emergency Shelter. The shelter includes 14 apartments with a 50 bed capacity and was the first building completed. The Kitchen celebrated the completion of the shelter with a Housewarming Celebration on November 8, 2018 and opened the building to the community. Clients will begin moving in the following week. Thirteen apartments will serve single females, families, veterans and youth, while one apartment will be for respite care.
Once at the shelter, each person can then be directed toward the most appropriate housing option, whether that be permanent housing paid for by the individual or a program of The Kitchen, Inc. or other agencies and resources within the community. The goal is to be able to find permanent housing for people living at the shelter within 90 days. In 2017, The Kitchen, Inc.’s shelter assisted 91 individuals including 31 children.
Phase Two of the O’Reilly Family Campus was the construction of The Sam F. and June S. Hamra Family Support Services building. It houses case managers, the support nurse, housing office, Donation Center, and administration. Construction began in 2019. The building opened on October 26, 2020.
Community support is vital for the completion of this project. Please consider making a donation to our capital campaign to help us complete phase two of the O’Reilly Family Campus. Your support allows The Kitchen to continue our mission of bringing stability and purpose to people who are homeless.