Week of Caring is now the Project of Caring

Published 7:40 pm Saturday, July 11, 2009

It’s become tradition for United Way chapters across the nation to hold an annual Week of Caring, when community members join forces to assist local agencies.

United Way of Freeborn County has had the pleasure of organizing a Week of Caring for several years now. Volunteers from many local businesses have gathered every spring to help paint rooms, clean windows, host events, landscape, and distribute agency information throughout the community, to name a few of the tasks that have been completed.

We are lucky in our community to have the spirit of volunteerism and so much encouragement to get involved and accomplish great things.

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We at United Way were inspired by the vast number of people who showed up during “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” last year. To recall, there were 850 skilled and unskilled laborers. It was amazing to see everyone come together for a common purpose.

We began to question what could be accomplished if we could draw that many volunteers and we expanded our vision beyond a week of tasks to a larger project that would have a big impact in our community. We asked ourselves: Where could we make the biggest difference?

In our quest, we came across the Community Cornerstone. It is a project headed up by a local nonprofit group called AZ-1. One of its goals is to solve major social problems. A current focus is on helping men who have gone through the court system to make the transition to a positive, more meaningful life.

Community Cornerstone is housed in what was formerly the Bible Book Store and before that, St. Paul Clothing House. It is at the intersection of Broadway Avenue and Main Street in downtown Albert Lea.

The project involves three floors: The top floor, Life Support, will be transitional housing, the second floor, Chet’s Place, will be a gathering area with a coffee shop; and the basement, Foundations, will have several meeting rooms, open to the public.

Demolition has begun on the building. Just yesterday, the public was invited to help demo the building. Thank you to everyone who took time out of their weekend to help!

Construction will take place toward the end of summer or early fall, once windows have been installed.

We are so excited to see the building take shape and have a purpose once again, to be a focal point in our downtown area. This project will assist community members who are seeking to rebuild their lives and will ultimately create a better environment for everyone in Freeborn County.

It is our intent to continue seeking out projects where, through the help of dedicated volunteers, we can make an impact in our community. Step by step, we can rebuild what once was neglected. By focusing our efforts, we can shape the world around us.

There will be no funding for the project through United Way. Donations of materials, appliances, etc., will be gladly accepted. If you would like to volunteer or contribute in any way to the project, please contact United Way at 373-8670, Mike Lee at (507) 402-0041 or Bob Scrabeck at (507) 383-0756.

Ann Austin is the executive director of the United Way of Freeborn County.