The Blessing Center has already stopped distributing food it will stop all operations at the site Today, Nov. 3.
The Blessing Center is shuttering the doors of its Stuart Avenue headquarters.
But the closure is temporary, its representatives say.
The nonprofit has been on the hunt for a new home since earlier this year, when the 10,120-square-foot building was sold. After a 90-day escrow, the Blessing Center was given six months to move.
“Friday (Nov. 3) is our last day here in the building,” said Phillip Saldana, the group’s food operations manager. “Wednesday was our last day of food distribution.”
Established in 1998, the Blessing Center is a faith-based nonprofit that works to “alleviate poverty and despair” for “poor and disadvantaged families and individuals who are hurting, in need of food, clothing, medical and dental care, job resources and many other needs,” according to its website.
The Blessing Center has run operations at the Stuart Avenue property since 2008.
“The biggest obstacle we’re facing right now is packing everything up,” Saldana said. “It’s like having a five bedroom house and moving all of that into a small trailer in just two days.”
Center volunteers and board members are working to secure a new property suitable for all its services, which include a medical and dental clinic, food pantry, and a resource center.
Part of that work includes taking the center’s health clinics mobile and securing temporary food distribution sites, said Pastor Craig Turley, a volunteer and Blessing Center board member.
Having to make the move, Turley said, “came at the right time because November is a downtime for us anyway. And we’re still picking up food and dropping it off at Set Free Highland and Yucaipa and a coalition of churches in Fontana.”
The center is working with groups and businesses in town to host its annual cold weather shelters and could have a solid plan in place soon.
“We’re doing as much as we could to get that rolling because the (cold weather season) starts in the middle” of this month, Turley said.
The Blessing Center put the Stuart Avenue property for sale in 2014 for $1.5 million. Funds from the purchase will go to the acquisition of a new building.
Although the center is in a period of transition, the board and volunteers remain committed to supporting those in need.
“We’re functioning. We’re just functioning in different locations until we can consolidate under one roof again and expand our programs,” Turley said. “That’s kind of what we’re about right now.”