Monday, November 30, 2009

Miracle on 25th Street: Open Arms Completes Capital Campaign



Open Arms has a great deal to be thankful for. We have secured $8.1 million and successfully completed our capital campaign.
The success of our campaign will allow us to finish construction of our new facility at 25th Street and Bloomington Avenue and begin serving even more clients with chronic, progressive and potentially life-threatening illnesses.

Since announcing our campaign in May of 2007, we have had tremendous support from this community – from a $5 gift from the four-year-old daughter of a volunteer to a million dollar donation from longtime supporters. More than 1,200 individuals, foundations, corporations and faith communities have contributed to our campaign. This tremendous outpouring of support – in the midst of the Great Recession – means Open Arms will qualify for an $800,000 challenge grant from the Kresge Foundation and a $400,000 challenge grant from the Bush Foundation.

We are grateful for all the support we have received. To thank our friends and donors we are hosting an open house at our new site on Tuesday, December 1 – World AIDS Day – from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Please join us for champagne and tours of the building. For those of you who have been frustrated by the lack of parking at our current building, there are over 40 spots in our new parking lot.

It’s not too late to make a contribution to our campaign. Contributions received will be used to expand our program to serve more clients. Tiles, to be installed in our new kitchen and reception areas, are also still available.

To our donors, volunteers and friends – thank you for supporting the work of Open Arms for 23 years. And thank you very much for supporting our capital campaign. Together, we will continue to strive for the realization of our vision: A world of abundance where no one will have to go hungry.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

A few more photos of the new construction

While it's busy in our 'old' building, the construction at the new facility is also really moving along. They are finishing the roof panels, getting down to the last few windows to install, and drywalling more and more of the interior. Next week they start laying some quarry tile, finish work on the elevator, and keep going on all of the other pieces. It's looking great.

And did you see that cars have room to park in the parking lot?! There will be lots more room than we've got currently...











Today at Open Arms







We're a busy place! Lots of volunteers delivering extra meals, others getting the turkey ready for tomorrow. And we've had many delivering whole, organic turkeys to clients who have the ability (and desire!) to make their own Thanksgiving Feast. We're grateful, and the parking lot is full...



Friday, November 20, 2009

Today's Construction Photos







We've got a roof that you can see! And the windows are going in on the vestibule and conference room that's on the second floor.






Friday, November 13, 2009

Plants and a Fence!

It's looking more and more like 'home' every day. We've got stripes on our parking lot, trees and shrubs around the edges, and a new fence!

They are also working on the roof today. It's moving at a great clip. Like everyone in the Open Arms committee, our building and construction team is wonderful to work with.

I hear that we're hovering really close to $200,000 left to raise! It's been a busy few weeks around here... not to mention our Thankgsiving plans for clients. We're bringing a truck into our current parking lot on Wednesday to give us a little more room to hold all of the turkeys!



Thursday, November 12, 2009

A video tour of the construction!

Here's an amateur video of the Open Arms construction. It's fun to be able to see our future kitchen!

Thanks for all of your support... we're excited to share this work with you.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

A Peek Inside!

There continues to be a lot of progress - we're trying to get the outside wrapped up before it gets too much colder, and also getting the windows and doors installed. Here are a few photos of the second floor, inside. Also, you'll see a view of the parking area taken from the roof!

The bakery area.



The parking area!

















The conference room