Grant helps spruce up resource center

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About a year ago, Shira Rabinowicz contacted Home Depot to see if they be willing to donate paint to the 360 Communities Rosemount Family Resource Center. The city of Rosemount had received a grant to renovate parts of the building and Rabinowicz, the resource center’s volunteer coordinator thought it might be nice to make the building warmer and more welcoming with a new coat of paint as well.

A few weeks after making her initial request, Rabinowicz received a call from Home Depot saying they would like to do a lot more. Store manager Evonne Warnke asked Rabinowicz to fill out a grant application. Maureen Bartz, a volunteer at the center, volunteered to write the grant and it was approved.

“(Maureen) has been instrumental in it all,” said Rabinowicz of receiving the money.

The resource center received $5,000 in improvements from the Home Depot Foundation. The improvements included fresh paint in all the center’s rooms, exterior painting, new lighting fixtures, new shelves in the food shelf and new blinds.

“It looks so much more welcoming,” said Rabinowicz of the work.

Additionally the work was done by employees of Home Depot. Rabinowicz said clients of the center have noticed the difference.

“Home Depot has been so kind and generous,” said Rabinowicz.

Over the last two summers the Rosemount Family Resource Center has undergone a number of changes. Last summer the city received a grant to put in a commercial kitchen, a new heating and cooling system, new flooring, an expanded food shelf space and motion sensored technology to preserve energy.

Most of the renovations such as the kitchen and the new HVAC system were paid for with a grant the city received through stimulus money. Other parts such as the carpeting were donated.

The city leases the building to 360 Communities, the organization that runs the resource center. From the center, 360 Communities provides a food shelf, programming for people of all ages and other types of assistance.

Rabinowicz said many times when people come to the center they are in the middle of crisis. As a place of refuge, Rabinowicz said, they want to make sure the family resource center is a warm and welcoming place.

During last year’s renovations, volunteer Beth Crawford said the renovations were quite necessary and will let the center provide better for people. She said the kitchen was a nice addition.

“It will be interesting to see what kind of things evolve from there,” said Crawford.

Rabinowicz said they’ve already had someone offer to teach a kids cooking class there.

As for the expanded food shelf space, Crawford said it allows for more than one person to be in the space, which means volunteers can work faster when sorting donated food.

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