OLDS — The former Olds Fire Department hall is now filled with tenants.
Hope 4 MVC Kids Society was the last non-profit organization to sign the necessary paperwork with the Town of Olds, having done so a couple of weeks ago, says the municipality's chief administrative officer (CAO).
The municipally-owned building is located at 4829 50th St. It became superfluous when the fire department moved to a new hall and other staff to the town's new operations centre.
During the Town of Olds' March 10 council meeting, CAO Brent Williams confirmed the building is now fully filled with non-profit groups.
“It’s great that this once underutilized space is now becoming a hub for community organizations in a time when demand for their services is rising,” Williams said.
The Community Lending Shelf and Coats For Everyone moved into their space upstairs last November. The Mountain View Food Bank is expected to move into their space in a few months.
Hope 4 MVC Kids helps families in Mountain View County and the urban municipalities within its geographical boundaries cope with medical and related expenses for children needing medical care.
Examples include parking, meals, fuel, utilities, groceries, accommodation, and sibling care.
Hope 4 MVC Kids founder Lisa Nicholson notes the organization is now 12 years old. They started out helping 10 families and the number they’ve helped has continued to grow each year.
“To give you an example, last year, we had 47 children applications, we gave out $95,000 to families,” she said during an interview with the Albertan.
So far, the organization has been run entirely by volunteers. Nicholson says the hope is that within three to five years they’ll have obtained enough money through grants to hire staff – at least an executive director – because the volunteers are being stretched pretty thin.
Hope 4 MVC Kids will be occupying about 430 square feet on the bottom and top floor.
Plans call for the bottom floor to feature a bathroom and a meeting space where families can discuss their needs with volunteers confidentially. The upstairs is envisioned as office space.
Nicholson said the board had been looking for space for its operations for about a year.
“We needed to find a space that we could call home, rather than working from kitchen tables,” she said.
She said the space still needs lots of work.
For example, renovations needed for the space downstairs include a bathroom, flooring and generally fixing up the meeting room so it’s comfortable and soothing for families.
“The vision the board has is that you walk in and it's like to go into a great friend's house or a loved one's living room, and it's a place of comfort,” she said.
“So we're envisaging a cozy couch, a coffee maker, giving families a really comfortable space to talk about what they might need during traumatic times and difficult circumstances.”
Nicholson is not sure when the group will be able to move into its space, but she’d love to see that happen by this Christmas.
“It really would be an amazing Christmas miracle, for sure,” she said.
Hope 4 MVC Kids put the word out that they were looking for space about a year ago.
They learned of the opportunity in the former fire hall last fall during the Town of Olds' annual community showcase.
Nicholson said although they offer their services county-wide, space in Olds works well for the group.
“For us, we have seen an uptake of the need, particularly in Olds,” she said. A lot of our applications come from Olds, so it kind of makes sense that that is here.
“But that still doesn't mean we're not still going to be providing services to Carstairs, Sundre, Mountain View County and all of the other areas.”
Nicholson said the board is working toward hopefully hiring its first staff in about three years, although she said it might take five years to get to that stage because they want to fund staffing primarily through grants, so that requires a lot of grant writing and lobbying.
They want the majority of donations to continue to go toward assisting families that are looking for help for medically-related needs.
Nicholson says it’s clear the time has come for the organization to work toward obtaining staff.
“This is now 12 years, with growth every year. And if we don't put these things in place, we're dealing with burnt-out volunteers,” she said.
“Our last family applications director was putting in up to 30 hours a week, volunteer hours. It's not sustainable, not at all.
“We know we have some amazing volunteers, they're passionate. I couldn't do without them and without community.”
Nicholson said the advent of space in the former fire hall should give Hope 4 MVC Kids a firm footing to keep expanding and serving the community.
“This organization should hopefully last when I'm no longer here. So that's how I see it.”
Mayor Judy Dahl said when she visited the building, she was told that demand for Hope 4 MVC Kids’ budget has virtually tripled.
“Being able to have the space was a great gift for them,” she said.
“Let’s all wish them good luck on that. I feel that they’ll be able to meet their goals. They really are ready to go.”
