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Middle Way shelter's New Wings facility ready
to take flight
Agency serving abused women and their children
to expand in new space
By Dann Denny
(812) 331-4350 |
ddenny@heraldt.com
June 24, 2010, Herald Times, Bloomington, IN
Several dignitaries, each armed with a pair of scissors, stood poised
behind a row of helium-filled balloons in the New Wings Development
courtyard.
With flawless synchronicity, they snipped ribbons attached to the
balloons, sending them floating skyward. A crowd of more than 150
applauded the release, realizing it symbolized the rising hopes of
domestic violence victims.
Wednesday’s ceremony marked the completion of a one-year project
that will enable Middle Way House to move on July 6 from its current
yellow house at 404 W. Kirkwood Ave. — which it owns with no outstanding
debt — to the New Wings development.
The $6 million project, which began July 1, 2009, included the
purchase and renovation of the former Coca-Cola Bottling Co. building at
318 S. Washington St., plus the construction of a new building
alongside it. Weddle Brothers Building Group was the project’s
construction manager.
The two-building New Wings development will provide emergency
shelter for abused women and their children, administrative offices,
child care, crisis line, commercial kitchen, incubator, and affordable
housing for women without children.
Laurie Burns McRobbie, chairwoman of the New Wings steering
committee who spearheaded the project’s three-year capital campaign,
said New Wings represents an exciting milestone in the life of the
agency, which began more than three decades ago.
“I’m filled with gratitude for the generosity so many of you and
others have shown,” she said. “When we look at this building, we can
take pride knowing we’ve made a lot of new journeys possible.”
Burns McRobbie said only 2 percent of the women who leave Middle
Way House return to their abusers, a rate that’s among the best in the
country.
“That percentage is unheard of,” she said. “We have the gold
standard for domestic violence shelters in Bloomington, Indiana.”
Mayor Mark Kruzan, after calling Middle Way House executive
director Toby Strout a “force of nature,” said the New Wings project
will empower women to confront their challenges, achieve their potential
and restore balance to their lives.
“I thank everyone who’s helped give flight to this ride,” he
said. “It’s been a wonderful community collaboration.”
The two-hour celebration featured music by Kaia and The Not Too
Bad Blue Grass Band, and refreshments — spice crackers, cheese wafers,
puff pastries — prepared by Middle Way’s FoodWorks, an in-house business
enterprise that provides women in transition from domestic violence
with income and marketable work skills.
New Wings’ features
The New Wings development has 26,175 square feet of space, more
than five times the square footage of Middle Way House’s current site.
“New space had been an item in our strategic plan for years,”
Strout said. “There just wasn’t enough room to meet the basic and
emergency needs confronting us every day.”
In the renovated Coca-Cola building will be a child care center
that can handle up to 32 children, ages 6 weeks to kindergarten, at a
time. Middle Way’s current child care program — located at The Rise, the
agency’s transitional housing facility — can handle only 24 children at
a time.
The building also has a 4,545-square-foot, licensed commercial
kitchen, significantly larger than the two small kitchens in the current
building that, combined, provide only 800 square feet of space.
The kitchen, which has 10-burner and 6-burner stoves, will allow
FoodWorks to offer takeout meals and specialty food items. Next to the
kitchen is an incubator space, operating on a time-share basis, that
will be available to local growers and potential entrepreneurs who want
to start a food-related business.
“We also have partnerships with Bloomington Parks and Rec to
provide classes, Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard for classes on food-related
subjects, and Bloomingfoods for product development,” said Cynthia
Brubaker, project development coordinator.
On the second floor, above the new kitchen, there are six,
one-bedroom rental apartments for formerly battered women who do not
have children living with them.
“The rent ($548 a month) will be based on the fair market rents
determined by HUD and administered via the Bloomington Housing
Authority,” Brubaker said.
The building has a green roof, a rain water collection system,
and a rooftop garden with herbs and flowering plants for Food Works and
the shelter.
The facility uses 36 laminate solar panels on the roof to supply
electricity to the building, and 5 solar collectors — each composed of
30 glass tubes in a frame — for heating the building’s water.
It also features the restoration of the exterior brick and stone
work, the terrazzo floors and original glass block windows.
New Wings’ newly constructed building has 32 permanent beds for
emergency shelter for women and children, compared to just 21 at the
current site — plus offices, kitchen, dining room, living room, TV room,
and exercise room.
There are two beds per room, with a shared bathroom for every two
bedrooms. The walls and hallways are painted in eggplant, melon and
blue — with burgundy trim.
Strout said Middle Way’s board is now working on three possible
uses for the agency’s yellow house after the move.
“We will make use of it ourselves to provide additional housing
options for the families we serve, we’ll rent or lease it to another
entity for three to five years, or we will sell it,” she said.
Middle Way House and the New Wings Community Partnership Project Already Coming Up Green
Middle Way House has once again provided a home for a local green business. The first, Middle Way’s Confidential Document Destruction (CDD), operated in the historic Coca-Cola Bottling Co. plant from June 2005 until May 2008. Now, the building at 318 South Washington is the temporary home of Bloomington Pedal Power, founded and run by Chad Roeder. As the New Wings Community Partnership gears up for the total rehabilitation of the historic brick building and construction of a new three-story building beside it, Roeder keeps an eye on things, serves downtown businesses, and contributes cardboard and paper (and more recently metal) to CDD’s shredding and recycling operation.
Roeder collects recyclables from downtown businesses on a bicycle equipped with trailers he and his father designed and built. Current subscribers to his business include Nick’s, Laughing Planet, the Village Deli, Soma, Olympus Properties, Bikesmiths, Baked, Max’s Place, the Cinemat, and Revolution Bike and Bean. Wooden pallets, formerly used by CDD, have been pressed into service as components of new recycling stations built at Nick's and the Village Deli. Roeder sorts, bags and stores the glass, metal, paper, and cardboard at the old plant and the Solid Waste Management’s Green Business Network picks up the items once a month.
“So far, so good,” says Roeder of the arrangement with Middle Way House. “I definitely think we're generating a good buzz in the downtown area, and I hope we can take on a few more subscribers.” Roeder is grateful for the space Middle Way House is providing and believes that without it he would not have been able to build his business. “I'll go so far as to say that Bloomington Pedal Power will donate all cardboard from now on to Middle Way House, regardless of where the sorting station is located.” At only two tons per month, $1,920 could be generated each year and Roeder believes that can happen. “We're quickly approaching our first ton!”
In the near future Pedal Power also will begin recycling bicycles. Overflow bikes from the Bloomington Bicycle Project (part of the Center for Sustainable Living) will be stowed temporarily at the Coca-Cola plant to help ease the crowding at their modest location just north of Bloomingfoods West and allow the volunteers to catch up, repairing and selling bikes to keep the bike project moving forward, seed a couple of new bike projects, one in Muncie, and one in Evansville, and donate a few bikes to Cubamistad in Bloomington's sister city in Santa Clara, Cuba. With a summer of rising gas prices ahead, the demand for bicycles is at an all-time high. Middle Way House is happy to be a part of this effort.
Bloomington Pedal Power, Chad Roeder, 325.2777, www.bloomingtonpedalpower.com.
Some real men in Greene County are attracting attention because their pictures are appearing on posters in public places.
Friday, May 2, 2008
By Anna Rochelle, Staff Writer for The Greene County Daily World 
The bright blue posters say "Real men teach, listen, mentor, model and coach. We all have a role to play."
The poster project is an effort by Middle Way House in Greene County to raise awareness about the reality of domestic abuse and sexual assault in our community and send the message that men, as well as women, stand against these violent behaviors.
Middle Way Director Christa Turpin said she hopes the posters will remind men that they have a role to play in the fight against domestic violence.
"We thought it would be great to feature pictures of men in our own community. Our young people will recognize many of these men and we want to reinforce the message to them that not all men do bad things. Unfortunately, the good guys don't always make the front page," said Turpin.
The money to produce the posters came out of the Middle Way House budget and the photographs were provided courtesy of the Greene County Daily World and the Bloomfield Free Press.
There are two versions of the poster, each featuring a different picture of a group of real men.
In one, the men are Brian Kollmeyer of the Bloomfield Processing Plant, Ben McNeeley of Bloomfield State Bank, Letter Carrier Mike England of the Bloomfield Post Office, Greene County Sheriff Terry Pierce, Greene County Ambulance Director David Doane, John Cummings of the Indiana Railroad, Steve Mitchell, owner of the Bloomfield Dairy Queen and Bloomfield Volunteer Fire Department Chief Eric Alano of Alano's Body Shop.
In the other, the men are Mark Miller of Miller Realty, Coach Aaron Lynn of Linton-Stockton High School, Mayor Tom Jones of the City of Linton, Attorney Jacob Fish of the Greene County Public Defender's Office, Officer Danny Keller of the Jasonville Police Department, Jock Hannum of the Linton-Stockton School Maintenance Department, Principal Jeff Sparks of Linton-Stockton High School, J. P. Meurer, owner of J.P.'s Fish, and Town Marshal Kenneth R. Tharp of the Bloomfield Police Department.
Jeanette Walker of Middle Way said the posters started appearing in various locations around Greene County by the first of May and they will continue to distribute them over the next couple of weeks.
"Watch for them in grocery stores, convenience stores, insurance and law offices, doctor's offices and medical clinics. I've even put one in a bar today," said Walker.
Walker said the bottom of the poster lists contact information where those in need of support can call for help -- (812) 384-8769 for Middle Way in Bloomfield, (812) 665-3642 for Middle Way in Jasonville, or (812) 336-0846 for Middle Way's 24-hour crisis line.
Would you like to hang one of these posters in your office or place of business? Walker added that anyone interested in showing their support by displaying a poster can call Middle Way in Bloomfield at 384-8769.
Pictured: RECOGNIZING GOOD MEN are Jeanette Walker and Christa Turpin of Greene County's Middle Way House show off the posters that are going up around the county in recognition of all men who support efforts to end domestic violence. Turpin says the "Real Men" posters feature photographs of several Greene County men from varying professions. Turpin and Walker hope the posters will serve as a reminder that men have an important role to play in stopping cycles of abuse. http://gcdailyworld.com/story/1399620.html |
MWH is a United Way agency.