On Friday, September 25, the new Reeb Avenue Center will hold its grand opening event with the south side community of Columbus, Ohio, the thirteen nonprofit organizations housed in the new center, City of Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, Columbus City Council members, Ohio Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor, and U.S. Senator Rob Portman. The grand opening event is years in the making. Multiple community organizations and funders came together to restore the Reeb Elementary School, a 110-year-old brick school building which was no longer in use. The Reeb School’s new life will be a ‘Hub of Hope,’ designed to be a social services center and lifeline to south Columbus residents.
Within the center, the Mid-Ohio Food Bank will operate the South Side Roots Café & Market, which will offer affordable, fresh groceries and a “pay-what-you-can” model for fresh café lunches. The café will offer a free dinner every Tuesday night and serve free lunches and snacks to the students at the South Side Learning & Development Center (SSLDC) and to participants of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Columbus, also located in the new Reeb Avenue Center.
SSLDC, along with Boys & Girls Club, will operate early learning and school-aged programs, with evening daycare available. The Boys & Girls Club programs will build area teens’ self-esteem, confidence, and independence to support students aimed at finishing high school and creating post-secondary plans.
Adult education and workforce services are also available at the center. Godman Guild Association will be providing GED and adult education classes, while Digital Works will be providing training for Internet careers, along with career mentorship and job placement assistance.
The new Reeb Avenue Center is also spurring local job growth through its opening. Seventy-six full time positions have already been created by the 13 nonprofit tenants of the center. Half of these are new jobs, and nearly one quarter of the new jobs are designed to employ local teens.
The new center will house Eastway Behavioral Healthcare therapists and counselors, serving behavioral health needs of school-aged youth in the community, as well as Alvis House, Amethyst, Community Development for All People, House of Hope, Lutheran Social Services, St. Stephen’s Community House, and South Side Neighborhood Pride Center.
Digital Works is excited to be part of such an innovative, services-focused neighborhood core for the south Columbus community. This will be the second Digital Works facility to open in Columbus, thanks to funding from the Franklin County Commissioner’s People Works program, as well as a grant funded by the Ohio Developmental Services Agency.
The organizations in the new Reeb Avenue Center will be cooperating with one another to better the quality of life of each Columbus resident who walks through the center’s doors.
All are invited to attend the ceremonial ribbon-cutting event for the Reeb Avenue Center, occurring Friday, September 25 at 10 a.m. Following the ceremony will be an open house event until 4 p.m.
View a photo slideshow of the Reeb School’s transformation into the Reeb Avenue Center, courtesy of The Columbus Dispatch: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/08/05/Reeb-Center-will-include-cafe-and-market.html.
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