FORT WAYNE – The Franciscan Center, which serves Fort Wayne’s poor with a food and medicine pantry and a lunch delivery program on Saturdays, is moving – though not very far.
The non-profit organization recently bought the former convent of Sacred Heart Catholic Church at 1015 E. Maple Grove Ave., a few hundred feet from its longtime headquarters in the basement of Sacred Heart’s former school building, Executive Director Tony Ley said Friday.
The new, one-floor location will better accommodate disabled and elderly clients and volunteers who find taking steps difficult, Ley said. It’s also expected to save money, he said.
The move also will free up space for parish activities. In September, Sacred Heart, at 4643 Gaywood St., formally became what the Catholic church calls “a personal parish” for those in the area who wish to attend Masses in Latin.
Ley said the former convent was bought in the 1970s by The Church of Fort Wayne Inc. but went up for sale last year after the death of its pastor, Martin Turner.
While the property has about 7,800 square feet in two buildings – less than the 11,000 square feet the center now occupies – Ley said it will allow for consolidation of staff and volunteer office space and place services on one 4,500-square-foot floor.
The ministry leases its current space, he said.
“We will save over $20,000 annually just in overhead and other operating costs by moving to the new building. Just the savings in utility and leasing costs alone will have a total investment payback in less than 10 years,” Ley said, adding the center did not want to leave the south-side neighborhood where many of its clients live.
The organization is beginning a fund drive to raise $189,000 for purchase and renovations of the ranch-style home. About $50,000 already raised allowed for the purchase, he said. The group will have fundraisers in coming weeks, including a casino night Feb. 17.
Volunteers who are building contractors, suppliers of construction materials and others with building renovation skills are also being sought for donations of time, labor and materials, Ley said.
No move-in date has been scheduled, he said, as the project will be completed in phases as money allows. But the project is expected to be finished by summer’s end.
Ley, who co-founded the center with his wife, Sally, said traffic at the ministry has risen sharply in the past six months.
“Last year at this time, we delivered 1,000 to 1,100 lunches every Saturday, and now we’re up to over 1,300,” he said.
In 2010, the center delivered 64,788 services but that rose to 72,268 in 2011, with the biggest increase in the last quarter, Ley said.
At that rate, it will deliver more than 84,000 services this year, he said.
“People’s unemployment is running out, and I’m hearing that people are scared to take temporary or part-time work because they’re scared they’ll mess up their unemployment. … I’m hearing that a lot,” he said.
“Not to be a pessimist, but I don’t see anything changing in the economy.”
