GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A homeless shelter commemorated the opening of an expansion in downtown Grand Rapids on Monday.
The ribbon cutting was held on the morning of Monday, June 13.
Dégagé Ministries says the new community center and dining room at Cherry Street and Sheldon Boulevard is the first of a $7.5 million project to offer more services.
"It's a much larger space to offer the people in this community, a place that truly fosters dignity and respect," says Executive Director Thelma Ensink. "This part is really about offering people great meals, but also a space where neighbors that live in the community can come and gather can, you know, play board games together, listen to a concert, just share laughs, build community and relationships. And when we build that community and relationships, that's when we move towards having hope, and achieving our goals of employment and housing."
The renovated dining room is now 50% larger to allow for greater capacity, the shelter tells us.
"This space will allow us to increase the number of meals we serve from 60,000 to 90,000 a year," Ensink tells us. "It allows more people to be able to come in on those cold days and to be able to get cool, like we will later this week when it's 90 degrees."
Ensink also says the increased capacity allows Dégagé to remain open longer, now from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
Dégagé says its main entrance has moved to Cherry and Sheldon, which they say is more “pedestrian friendly” than its previous entrance.
More renovations are expected to be completed by the end of the year.
"Coming up in the next phase, our new rest and wellness center where people can recover from surgery or prolonged illness, a New Life Enrichment Center, and then a new storefront for Paul's Mom's Cookies as well," Ensink adds.
