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The Neighbor Project: Shepherdstown office helps Jefferson County Community Ministries plan for Community Services Center construction

By Tabitha Johnston - Chronicle Staff | Dec 23, 2022

The land on which the Community Services Center will be built, is located at 214 and 224 Racetrack Street in Ranson. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Last Friday morning, a group of about 30 people gathered in front of a couple of old, white barns at 214 and 224 Racetrack Street in Ranson. While the barns will soon be demolished, the building being built in their place will make a much greater impact, in its position as the home of Jefferson County Community Ministries’ Community Services Center.

According to City of Ranson Mayor Keith Pierson, donating the land to JCCM was an easy decision, given the organization’s need for a location in which to centralize all of its community service operations.

“Twenty years ago, the ministry was your neighbor — we all knew each other, we all were family members, we grew up together. If someone needed something, you’d knock on a neighbor’s door — or maybe you wouldn’t even have to!” Pierson said, after polling the crowd and noting that less than 10 percent of it were native Jefferson County residents. “That whole evolution of growth has changed where we’re at.

“It’s an old saying, ‘No room at the inn!'” Pierson said, noting there is no homeless shelter for families in the county. “That is the most pertinent project to me with this, because without a place for families and kids, we are failing.”

As of this year, JCCM finally acquired a permanent cold weather shelter for homeless adults, in the former Halltown Presbyterian Church building donated by Shenandoah Presbytery of the Presbyterian church. However, that space isn’t capable of housing entire families, who may be homeless due to a variety of reasons, ranging from financial challenges to house fires. Currently, the Eastern Panhandle’s first homeless family housing units are being built in Berkeley County at the Martinsburg Union Rescue Mission. And last Friday, with the capital campaign launch of The Neighbor Project, Jefferson County’s own family housing units were officially announced to be included in the design for the Community Services Center.

Mayor Keith Pierson, of the City of Ranson, speaks at The Neighbor Project capital campaign launch on Friday morning. Tabitha Johnston

“We were fortunate to have these barns given to us, and I gratefully appreciated it,” Pierson said. “At the end of the day, the need for these barns for the City of Ranson seemed to be irrelevant. It became clear that the opportunity for Jefferson County Community Ministries to use this property was the best option for our city and those surrounding it.”

According to JCCM Developmental Director Jennifer Verdugo, the 26,000 square foot Community Services Center has been estimated to cost a combined total of $12 million.

“We are thrilled to tell you that we have had the opportunity to meet with the office of the West Virginia governor and the West Virginia Department of Commerce about deploying West Virginia ARPA funds — these are coronavirus recovery funds, West Virginia emergency solutions grants and other resources, to support the $8 million in construction costs for the future Community Services Center,” Verdugo said. “But guys, we can’t stop there! We need every penny to make this project come to life!”

Along with the family housing units, the Community Services Center is planned to include separated year-round housing for homeless men and women, replacing the cold weather shelter model JCCM has maintained up to this point. Other amenities included in the two-story building’s design, which is being created pro bono by the Shepherdstown office of Mills Group, are: a laundry room, a room for JCCM’s food pantry, a food pantry overstock storage room, a food pantry office, a clothes storage room, a kitchen, a dining area, a WVU Medicine medical clinic, a dental clinic, a security office, three conference rooms, seven case management offices, five restrooms, a shelter storage room and a common area for shelter residents to relax in.

“We have done pro bono work every year at each of our office locations in Wheeling and Morgantown and Elkins, so it was time for our new office in Shepherdstown to do the same,” said Mills Group Senior Project Manager Jim King, explaining this is the first pro bono project the office has taken on.

Jefferson County Community Ministries Executive Director Keith Lowry, right, accepts a $50,000 check from United Way of the Eastern Panhandle CEO Penny Porter at The Neighbor Project capital campaign launch on Friday morning. Tabitha Johnston

“I reached out to Keith Pierson in June, when I saw an article about the land being donated to JCCM. They actually had a study done before we got on board, which suggested the barns should be demolished. It found that it would be better and less costly to build a new building in the barns’ place,” King said. “The idea is always to try to work within budget, and we’ll continue to do that as we create further designs for this project. It’s always a give-and-take, because especially with something like this, you want to make sure they get the most for their money.”

JCCM Executive Director Keith Lowry noted that JCCM already has a handful of volunteer social workers, mental health counselors, doctors and dentists on staff, but that there is a need for more professionals to volunteer their time to serve Jefferson County residents in need. To get involved, visit https://www.jccm.us/.

Rev. Georgia DuBose, of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Harpers Ferry, gives the invocation at The Neighbor Project’s capital campaign launch on Friday morning. Tabitha Johnston