A New Year means a new beginning for the Dayton Christian Center. As some of you might have heard, there has been big news surrounding the Dayton Christian Center. We wanted to share this news with our blog followers.
This is the article as it reads in the Dayton Daily News. Courtesy of
Meredith Moss, Staff Writer for the Dayton Daily News:
The Dayton Christian Center, a presence in the Miami Valley since 1921, has closed its Linden Avenue location in East Dayton as of Jan. 1, and plans to reopen by March in an expanded but still undisclosed location.
The Rev. Bob Bishop, executive director of the organization, said the group has been in discussions with the city regarding a larger new home, and said that the location will definitely be in East Dayton.
“We’ve been renting space from a church that was way too small for what we needed,” Bishop explained, estimating that the group serves up to 600 clients each month on Linden Avenue. Because a one-year lease had to be renewed with the church by Jan. 1, he said the board decided the time was right to initiate the change.
The two Centers offer programming ranging from Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) to meals for the homeless and day care. The West side location, at 1352 W. Riverview Ave., is housed in a building constructed in 1950.
Bishop said one of the proposed projects is a new sports and wellness program that will be organized by Drew Formentini, a University of Dayton graduate student assigned to the Center for the next two years.
“The idea is to link a variety of different agencies and programs in East Dayton and put them together in a way that will hopefully revitalize the community,” Bishop said.
He said he is hopeful the new location will be available even before March on a rental basis so that the VITA program and the new sports program can be offered there. He said grants also are being pursued.
Bishop, who oversees both locations, said the Centers have a staff of 20, some of whom are paid by other community organizations such as AmeriCorps and Wright State University. The Linden Avenue location was opened in 2005. It also offered tutoring and drop-in guidance to help clients hook up with a variety of community organizations.
“What gives me the greatest pleasure is to know that we are not only helping people today, but hopefully changing the structure for many generations after us,” said Bishop, who took his job in 2003 after serving as a church pastor for 17 years.
“As a faith-based community center, our faith drives us to do what we do,” said Bishop. “Hopefully, the plan we’re going to unfold will be big news for all of East Dayton.”
For information, visit www.daytonchristiancenter.org
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2440 or mmoss@Dayton
DailyNews.com.
We, at the Dayton Christian Center are very positive that this will be the change that Dayton Christian Center needs. This change helps us to put more focus on programs and to reach out to even more families in Dayton. We will be able to provide more information soon, but I hope this gives you a glimpse of what will be for the Dayton Christian Center in 2010. Please continue praying for us!
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