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The HELP Center would be 40,000 square feet. |
The nonprofit agency that brought $13 million worth of affordable housing to King George County--without a dime of taxpayer funds--is planning a building that would be the first of its kind in Virginia.
Project FAITH wants to build a HELP Center, a complex that would offer a variety of services to low- and moderate-income families in King George and throughout the Northern Neck.
Project FAITH Director Fronce Wardlaw is applying for state and federal grants, tax credits and low-interest loans to build the center. It's planned at 40,000 square feet--almost a third the size of a Super Walmart--with an estimated cost of $8 million.
"Anything a person needs will be in this one building," said Dave Coman, director of King George's Department of Social Services.
He's one of several county and area officials who support the center, planned for State Route 3 east of the Courthouse.
Coman's department would be housed in the building, along with the Health Department and Rappahannock Goodwill Industries, the county's food bank and free clinic, and a state parole and probation office.
"Part of the magic in this is that you have all the agencies that assist people to be successful and to make transitions in their lives, all together in this project," said Elizabeth "Sissy" Crowther, president of Rappahannock Community College.
RCC would have permanent classrooms in the center, and hold sessions day and night. Students could work on degrees as nursing assistants, in childhood development or in other programs geared to what the local work force needs.
Day care would be provided and meals offered in a USDA-approved kitchen, Wardlaw said.
"It's going to be a great way to put the pieces of the puzzle together for those who need help," said Rusty Bragg, who manages the college's Workforce Development Program in Warsaw. "It's kind of one-stop shopping."
Even though the center is a Project FAITH development, the King George Board of Supervisors has to endorse it to get grant money to pay for infrastructure costs.
A nonprofit agency can't receive a Community Development Block Grant, the type of assistance that covers these costs, but a local government can, Wardlaw said. The HELP Center hopes to get $690,000 in grants to cover the cost of the entrance road, off Journal Parkway, as well as site work, water and sewer costs and sidewalks.
The county will hold a public hearing on the HELP Center plan Tuesday at approximately 6:30 p.m. Residents can give their opinions of the proposal at that time.
King George and Project FAITH went through the same process with the other developments the agency has built, in the Angelwood complex. Nicole Thompson, King George's director of economic development, has been working with Wardlaw on the HELP Center.
On March 2, Thompson updated the supervisors on the plans. One public hearing had been held already, and a second was scheduled for Tuesday, March 16, during the daytime.
Chairman Dale Sisson Jr. and former Chairman Joe Grzeika looked at each other in surprise when they heard that. When Cedell Brooks Jr. asked why the supervisors didn't know about the hearings, County Administrator Travis Quesenberry said he "probably forgot" to tell them.
Sisson asked Project FAITH to keep the board "in the loop" and to schedule the March 16 hearing during its nighttime meeting.
"As a board, we've been very supportive of similar efforts," Sisson said. "For us to be able to act and to support a project of significant scope and magnitude, we've got to start getting informed."
Several supervisors have had one-on-one sessions with Wardlaw about the HELP Center proposal--and are enthusiastic about what they saw.
"It's going to be a win-win situation for the county and Project FAITH itself," said Supervisor John LoBuglio. He added that workers with Project FAITH "already have proven themselves in the other projects they've built."
Brooks also praised Wardlaw's track record. He liked the idea of one-stop shopping--and wanted to expand on it.
"The only thing they need is a bank and a grocery store and then they'll be straight," he said.
Cathy Dyson: 540/374-5425
Email: cdyson@freelancestar.com
$3 million from U.S. Rural Development
$2.5 million through New Market Tax Credits
$690,000 from a Community Development Block Grant
Remainder from other sources
COMPLETION DATE: Spring 2012 'HELP' in HELP Center stands for Health/Higher Education Learning Parenting assistance