TRAVERSE CITY -- One of Traverse City's busiest spots will undergo a $1 million construction makeover to better handle the growing number of people walking through its doors.
The Father Fred Foundation will begin reconstruction on Wednesday to make more efficient use of the two buildings it uses to help needy families in a five-county region.
The foundation is busier than ever -- a sign of the faltering state economy -- and distributes food, clothing, furniture and emergency financial assistance from its home on Hastings Street.
"We are going to keep serving the needy all through the renovation, which will take to the end of the year," said the Rev. Edwin Thome, spiritual director for the foundation. "Of course, we're used to working on top of each other here."
When he first came to the foundation eight years ago, Thome said it focused on taking care of the poor who couldn't care for themselves. Today, their clients include the growing class of working poor and victims of a depressed economy.
In 2007, the foundation served more than 1,200 new families and the pace isn't slowing, said foundation Executive Director Martie Manty.
"Sometimes we become so crowded you can't find any place for counseling," Thome said. "I remember at least three distinct times when I've asked someone to go to my car if they wanted privacy."
The foundation hopes to raise $650,000 from individual contributors to match an estimated $650,000 from foundations and major donors in the second phase of a $2.7 million capital campaign. The first phase began in 2006 and raised $1.4 million to cover the purchase of two additional buildings and renovation of one into an infant and childcare center.
The new overhaul will integrate the remaining two building to make better use of the space without adding any square footage.
The renovation will increase office space, add a community room, expand the waiting room and double the capacity for food storage.
"The project is very modest but the (finished) building will be neat, clean, easily maintained and efficient," Manty said.
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