In an effort to make everyone feel at home in the new Summit County Battered Women’s Shelter, the rollout of the $4.5 million project is more of a housewarming than a grand opening.
The new shelter, which will offer a more private and yet spacious setting, will officially open its doors for abused and battered women and their families Dec. 15.
A “sneak peek” of the new facility will start at 6:30 p.m. Saturday,with an auction in the Great Room at 8 p.m.
This will be the last time the public will be able to see the inside of the building before it officially opens. The event is hosted by local entrepreneurs Rennick Andreoli, Phil Maynard and Roger Read.
“We are ready, but we need blankets, pillows, sheets and towels and other items all new homes need,” said Terri Heckman, CEO of the Battered Women’s Shelter and Rape Crisis Center. “When I open the doors to a family who has been beaten down, to someone who has bruises both inside and out, to a senior citizen who has suffered family abuse, I want those people to see a room with clean, bright, new and matching sheets, blankets and towels.”
Heckman said she decided to register at a local store, like brides do, for items needed for the shelter.
“Target has stepped up as a community partner, helping us select items that are strong, sensible items that will last,” she said. “By registering, people can go online and purchase the items needed for the shelter to open.”
People are invited to bring a housewarming gift to the sneak peek event. Admission is $50 — or a white set of full-sized sheets or anything else on the registry list.
All renovations to convert the former Middlebury Manor Nursing Home, which closed in 2011, into a shelter have been completed except the kitchen.
The admission fee for the sneak peek event will go toward the final dollars needed to complete the kitchen.
So far, $4 million of the $4.5 million cost for the shelter project has been raised.
“Originally, we were putting the kitchen in the basement, where it was for the former nursing home, but the plans were denied because they didn’t pass codes,” Heckman said. “We had to start from scratch. We are building from the ground up on a piece of our property that will be connected to the building.”
The agency is working with local churches and groups to help provide meals until the kitchen opens in the spring.
On Monday, board member Ken Smith and his wife, Jill, of Hudson were setting up rooms at the shelter.
The couple were asked to purchase a bookcase. They bought three and ended up sponsoring a children’s room.
“We reached out to family and friends and put up a bin in the back of our house as a drop off for supplies,” Ken Smith said. “A lot of them gave money so we set up a separate account for that. Copley Cares also donated a large sum of money and donated 12 boxes of books.”
The couple donated furnishings, carpet and supplies.
“Everyone is pitching in to do what they can,” said Jill Smith. “It’s just been incredible.”
Two Men and A Truck donated their time and muscle, dropping off supplies from an Atlanta broker that clears out office equipment and furniture from companies upgrading their offices or going out of business. They delivered boxes of dishes and coffee pots, cabinets, desks and furniture.
The agency had an office building on West Exchange Street and was leasing office space in another building but sold the building it owned. The money from the sale paid for renovations on the business side of the new building, which has offices, a conference room and meeting rooms for one-on-one talks, support groups and board sessions.
The offices are on one side of the building and connect to the shelter. Everything is under one roof.
Currently the Battered Women’s Shelter of Summit and Medina Counties runs two shelters in Summit County with a total of 68 beds and one shelter in Medina County with 20 beds. The Medina shelter will remain.
The two Summit County shelters will close once all the residents are moved to the new facility.
The new facility will be able to house 160 people.
Last year, the Summit County shelters provided 23,705 nights of shelter to our families.
“This ‘new home’ will be the safe haven, the calm from a storm, the place where they call home, even if only for a few weeks or months,” Heckman said.
To RSVP for Saturday’s event, contact Melissa Hamlin at 330-860-5624 or melissah@scmcbws.org.
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.