Moving Help Needed!

We are moving ahead in faith and hope! Church Community Services is moving into its new home!

Contractors and volunteers, under the very conscientious guidance of Bruce Barwick, Project Manager, have been hard at work the past six months readying this building for staff to move into. The move has been made urgent by the fact that our current building has been sold and we need to vacate by April 30.

This move only represents the completion of Phase I. About the time we move ground will be broken for Phase II, a 4,000 sq ft addition to house a new larger food pantry and SOS production area. For this to become reality we still need to raise $400,000 to reach our $1 million capital campaign goal. Cash donations or multi-year pledges for the building may be sent to CCS, P.O. Box 2346, Elkhart, IN 46515. The campaign will go to churches and the public after Easter.

What: Moving Day
Where: From our old facility (629 S. Third St. Elkhart) to our new facility (907 Oakland Ave. Elkhart)
When: Saturday, April 4 (Please plan to arrive between 9 am – noon)

We need people to help with:
- loading & unloading (mostly boxes and some furniture)
- dismantling and moving shelving units
- reassembling shelving units

If you would like to assist with our move, please contact Sharon at (574) 264-3396.
Thank You!

Renovation Help Needed!

What: Volunteer work day
Where: At our new facility – 907 Oakland Ave. Elkhart
When: Saturday, February 28 (9 am – 3 pm)

We need people to help with:
- Installing ceiling tiles
- Cleaning floors for carpeting
- Cleaning windows
- Cleaning & polishing wood doors
- Cleaning cabinets
- Cleaning glazed block walls

If you would like to assist with any of these tasks, but are not available this Saturday, please contact Sharon at (574) 264-3396.
Thank You!

In the news again – CCS begins renovation!

We have been in the news a lot lately due to the huge amount of people coming here for assistance.  In case you missed the channel 22 news, here is their report.  Click on the link at the bottom if you would like to view the story.

The economy is putting a crimp in the finances for local families. It’s also causing a strain on local social service agencies. One agency in Elkhart is looking to expand to keep up with those who need help.

Church Community Services (CCS) in Elkhart is running out of room to meet the growing demand for its services. Its current office off Third Street needs more space.

“Compared to a year ago in September, we saw 500 families more this year than last year,” said CCS director Dean Preheim-Bartel.

“We’re having an average of about 140 families a day that are coming in to use the food pantry and that’s within a six hour period,” added social services director Vonda Horst.

“There are a lot of families in need and they’ve been coming here to get help,” said food pantry client Tracey McWilliams.

But help could be on the way.

The agency is working to renovate an old office building and warehouse on Oakland Avenue.

Relocating the agency there would more than triple the space at its current office and help streamline and improve one of its most important programs — the food pantry.

“The food pantry, it only allows about four people to shop at a time because it’s so small and cramped and now we can almost double the number of people who can be served at one time,” explained Preheim-Bartel.

Plus it will provide more needed storage space.

“It’s a huge issue, and right now we have very little space to store food,” Preheim-Bartel said.

The new building would also house the agency’s Soup of Success project and its financial assistance office. It’s working to raise $1 million. Right now, the agency has reached 35 percent of the goal.

WSBT – Local News – Video – Agency looks to expand to meet growing Elkhart need