During the course of the past several months, the Midlands Housing Alliance has made significant strides toward realizing the goal of a comprehensive services center, and it has been with your generous support that they can proudly say they are well on their way to seeing this endeavor come to fruition. They have raised $11.6 million to date and are continuing their fundraising efforts by assessing different grant opportunities to secure sustained funding and are set to close on their contract with the Salvation Army by the end of summer.
Although there are still challenges in sight, they have resolved all legal concerns and environmental issues, and are scheduled to begin construction in the fourth quarter this year with estimated project completion in 2011. They have hired an interim executive director, Bob Hill, who will begin July 6 of this year; they are also in the process of hiring a construction management firm.
The first Tuesday of every month, at 5:30, several board members meet with neighbors—people who live work or worship in or near downtown Columbia—for about an hour to hear their concerns, questions and input. These meeting are critical in the formation of our operating policies, which include everything from feeding, to triage, to safety. The comments and concerns that come out of these meetings are relayed to the board and the operations committee, who have begun to meet in order to develop operational policies. They encourage everyone to join them! For more information, please contact Virginia Hall at 803.926.3462.