Photo by Robert Dickson
Executive Director of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty Stephen Dear (second from left) shows visitors around the nonprofit’s office.
By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer
Community leaders, elected officials and members of the public filled the Douglas Building Tuesday evening for the first joint open house of all five of the building’s nonprofit organizations.
The open house was hosted by the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service, El Centro Latino, El Futuro, Joint Orange Chatham Community Action-Building Futures Youth Center and People of Faith Against the Death Penalty.
“What’s amazing now is that we’re totally nonprofits in this building,†said Chris Moran, executive director of the Inter-Faith Council. IFC helps meet basic needs for individuals and families by providing shelter, food and other services.
The Douglas Building – on Main Street in Carrboro – is owned by the IFC; the other organizations have moved in over the past several years.
“The energy is really great in this building,†Moran said, adding that having the different organizations under one roof makes services more readily available for some clients.
“Clients go back and forth between services,†he said.
Visitors to the open house received a map outlining the services in the building and a raffle ticket for a door prize that they could turn in if they visited each of the different organizations.
“We just want people to come and see what we do,†said Kristin Lavergne, community services director for IFC. “Especially our neighbors.â€
In El Centro’s offices, pictures and posters detailing the organization’s programs scattered the walls. Other organizations passed out literature detailing different services, while visitors snacked on food donated by local restaurants.
In the JOCCA-Building Futures Youth Center, staff provided information on the organization’s weatherization programs, youth programs and more.
Stephen Dear, executive director of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, said the open house was a good opportunity for people to get to know his organization and learn about the program, which aims to mobilize faith communities to work to abolish the death penalty.
Johanna Cabeza, program director at El Centro, said a lot of people don’t know about El Centro’s different programs, such as computer classes, GED classes, after-school programs, interpretation services and more. El Centro provides varying services to the local Latino community.
El Futuro, which provides bilingual treatment for Latinos with mental health and addiction illnesses, opened up its offices and therapy rooms to the community as well, and board members and staff were on hand to answer questions and talk with visitors.
For more information about:
• El Centro Latino, visit www.elcentrolatino.org;
• The Inter-Faith Council for Social Service, visit www.ifcweb.org;
• El Futuro, visit elfuturo-nc.org;
• People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, visit www.pfadp.org; and
• JOCCA-Building Futures Youth, call 969-6900.
The link above for IFC is incorrect.
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Note: IFC web site address fixed.