New Community Care Center Opens, Expands Services for Adams County

The Community Care Center opened its doors Tuesday morning at 10:30 a.m. in a newly renovated space at 212 East Second Street, one block from its former site. The new location brings the food bank and clothing bank under one roof, resolving long standing space and cost pressures and ensuring continued service to hundreds of Adams County families.

AES, owner of the DP&L J.M. Stuart and R.B. Killen Generating Stations, played a central role in the relocation by helping to find a donated property and funding renovations. Company employees contributed volunteer hours to tear out walls, build new walls, paint, upgrade plumbing and install shelving, sometimes working after their shifts and on weekends. Donations from businesses on both sides of the river supplemented AES support.

The center’s director, Ben Wright, has been a fixture since the pantry opened in 2002 after he returned to the region in 2001. Wright traces the pantry’s beginnings to local parish and church outreach after his return, and recalls the center’s growth from an initial 38 families to feeding 300 to 400 families each month. “We opened in 2002, and started with 38 families; now we feed 300 to 400 families a month,” Ben said. He described the corporate offer of help as providential. “I think it’s a God thing,” Ben said of AES’s out of the blue offer of support. “It amazed me how this all came to being. We’ve just been totally blessed,” he added.

The consolidation comes after the center struggled with splitting operations across multiple rented spaces, including a landlord who sought to reclaim one building and another location where rent became unsustainable. By last fall the center was close to shutting down due to operating costs before AES intervened. Debbie Lewis, an office administrator for AES, helped initiate contact with village officials and directed the company’s support to the Community Care Center after volunteers observed the facility’s material needs and financial strain. AES Business Service Director Steve Barnoski said the company seeks ways to better the communities where it operates and pursued Manchester projects as part of that effort.

Volunteers form the backbone of the center, and for many the work provides both practical help and personal renewal. Volunteer Donna Thacker came to the center as part of court ordered community service and now manages front desk tasks and client intake. “It feels like family and a home. I love it. It was the first time I felt people cared, and Ben’s been the best,” she said. Long time volunteers and local donors sustain the operation through donated funds, church support and purchased food from the Free Store Food Bank in Cincinnati, a member of Feed America. “It’s very hectic at times. We are all volunteers here, there is no paid personnel. They do it for the community and out of the kindness of their hearts,” Ben said. “They’re the group that keeps the thing running. I have to give accolades to DP&L and AES and Debbie Lewis and her crew that put this together for us. We’ve just been truly blessed.”

The Community Care Center is open Tuesday and Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Residents seeking assistance or wishing to volunteer can call 937 549 8700 for information. The consolidation and renovated space aim to strengthen a vital local safety net for Adams County families facing food and clothing insecurity.