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Catholic Social Services unveils new food pantry, welcome center

Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley cuts and orange ribbon to open its renovated facility.
Shay Frank
/
WYSO
Catholic Social Services CEO, Laura Roesch, cuts the ribbon to open the newly renovated facility.

A newly expanded food pantry is serving the public at Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley.

The nonprofit's West Riverview Avenue site now has a larger food pantry, a new ground-level welcome center, updates in accessibility, community spaces and more.

A new entrance was also designed to welcome guests directly from the agency’s parking lot. The front desk will be manned from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday by a combination of volunteers and staff to assist community members.

Catholic Social Services used money from its five-year, $10 million comprehensive campaign to pay for the expansion. Money raised from this campaign is also going to a number of other programs including investing in strategic program areas, strengthening its annual fund and attracting and developing a skilled workforce.

Construction began last July to build a shared space for Family Stabilization Services, the Next Steps program, the Life Essentials adult guardianship program and other administrative services.

CEO Laura Roesch said one of the main goals for the updated center was to be a place for all in the community to feel welcome.

“Our goals were always to create an environment where everyone feels the dignity and the respect that we want them to feel," she said. "And our building is also inclusive and accessible to everyone."

The organization had four key elements in creating the updated space: access, a welcome center, community space, and the updated pantry.

"We added an elevator to our existing building, we added a community room, a welcome center, and the big highlight, really, is the new 6500 square feet of emergency food pantry space," Roesch said.

Iris Juergens, who oversees fundraising for the agency, said visitors are allowed to select the food items they need from the pantry.

“Our intention was to do so much for the community and this just makes it so much easier. I mean we have increased accessibility, we have a lovely new expanded food pantry," she said. "It makes it so much easier for the community to be able to receive what we're able to provide them.”

The pantry is open from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on weekdays. According to Catholic Social Services, it often serves more than 100 households per day within that two-hour window.

Updates in the pantry also include expanded aisles, private interview spaces, an updated delivery garage and increased accessibility.

According to Roesch, Catholic Social Services offers assistance and resources to everyone in the community, regardless of religion.

"We've been serving our community for over 100 years. We have services from supports for children through supports for older adults in special populations, like our work with refugee resettlement," she said. "And we want every person to know that if they have a need for a resource or information, to feel free to call us or visit our website."

Expertise: Agriculture, housing and homelessness, farming policy, hunger and food access, grocery industry, sustainable food systems