By Cindy Allen, Managing Editor
Enid News and Eagle
ENID —
For a couple of years now, local organizers have been raising money to turn the former Newman’s Department Store building in downtown Enid into a nonprofit resource center and early childhood resource center.
Now, it’s time to cross the fundraising finish line, said Cheri Ezzell, executive director of Community Development Support Association, which has taken the lead in developing the center.
Several large foundations in Oklahoma have stepped up to the plate and pledged thousands of dollars in grants and matching grants toward the $2.5 million project. Ezzell said there have been more than 400 other individual and business donors to the project as well.
Only about $250,000 more is needed to take advantage of all the matching grants and to complete the fundraising portion of the project. And, that money needs to be raised during June, Ezzell said. The matching grants will only come through if the local fundraising drive is completed.
Ezzell said the vision for the building is to create a place where several nonprofit agencies can have offices and share certain resources. That will take up about half of the building.
The other half will be an early childhood resource center, Ezzell said.
Ezzell and fundraising chairman Mary Stallings are excited about the possibilities.
The nonprofit resource center would bring together several nonprofit agencies in the community, and also could bring together shared services among those agencies, such as receptionist help, grant-writing help, even computer technology services.
“There are things we can share with other agencies,” Ezzell said. “That will provide more efficiencies in services for the non-profit agencies.”
As for the early childhood resource center, CDSA has been active with other early childhood advocacy groups to promote services to help at-risk children in the community.
“We want to focus on making sure children get a good start in Enid,” she said. “If you don’t have what you need when you’re a child, that will impact you for life.”
Recently, CDSA hosted a meeting in the building in which leaders in the community got some grim statistics about early childhood in Enid. The survey showed a number of risk factors for Garfield County children.
Those are issues the early childhood resource center would aim to address,” Ezzell said.
A lot of work has been done on the building in preparation for opening the nonprofit and early childhood resource center. Some maintenance and asbestos removal have been done on the building to ready it for remodel and construction once the fundraising is complete.
The June push to finish fundraising is being helped by Park Avenue Thrift, which is offering a match for donations.
Paula Nightengale, of Park Avenue Thrift, said they are asking people to pledge through Facebook by hitting the “Like” button on the Park Avenue Thrift page and also hitting the “Like” button on the CDSA page and also making a pledge on both Facebook pages.
Park Avenue Thrift will match those donations up to $12,500.
“We’re trying to help them raise 10 percent of what they need,” Nightengale said, for a total of $25,000.
The money provided in this last push for fundraising mostly will be matched by the other foundations and organizations that already have pledged matching dollars, Stallings said.
“Oklahoma foundations have really stepped up to help us,” Stallings said. Those foundations include the Inasmuch Foundation and the Mabee Foundation. “We really need to see our local people finish this out.”
