Mission South Central had a blessing and an open house at its new building at Madison and Third Street in downtown Kinmundy on Saturday.
President Gary Cooper says they were able to purchase the former photography studio due to the owner making it available at about a fifth of its actual worth. He notes a 20 by 30 foot addition is planned in the spring to allow all of their materials to be able to be stored together.
Vice President Tina Hanks says the organization dates its start to 2020 when it spun off from Mission Salem.
“We do ramps, we do other small projects. We’ve cleaned up some yards and stuff like that. We are a hundred percent donation funded, and everything we bring in we put back out into the community. We do wheelchair ramps. We have some elderly people whose yards have become overgrown that we’ve gone in and cleaned up. Anybody here is completely here on any free time they have. It’s all volunteer based.”
Cooper says in all they have now constructed about 50 ramps. He reports the ramps are very important to those who have problems dealing with steps.
“They can’t stay in their home where they don’t get out to go anywhere,” Cooper said. “They stay there all the time, and they need this to be able to get out there and have a social life.”
Mission South Central has a six-to-eight-member volunteer board and another four or five who attend many of the builds.
