By Gerri Miller
Elmore/Autauga News Staff Writer
Every family in every car has a story. Most of them would break your heart.
That’s what Phil Harris says about the families who drive through the West Elmore Outreach Ministry Extension’s (W.E.L.C.O.M.E) food drop every month. It may be about hunger or perhaps homelessness. You’ll never know unless you get to know them.
He said the needs also go beyond food insecurity. The construction of a new facility should allow the organization to provide additional resources to needy families. “As we grow, we would like to incorporate groups that can provide other means of support,” he said.
W.E.L.C.O.M.E. will soon begin a capital campaign to raise additional money needed for the organization’s expansion into a new facility. The expansion will help the organization better serve these families and the growing number coming through as a result of the county’s growth.
The City of Millbrook has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) to construct a new facility that will become the new base of operations for W.E.L.C.O.M.E.
The expansion will also mean more space so that the organization can once again provide counseling services. W.E.L.C.O.M.E. has not been able to provide counseling services since the Corona pandemic began.
W.E.L.C.O.M.E., a food pantry that serves not only Millbrook but several surrounding communities in the western part of Elmore County, is currently located in a small brick building that is no longer viable for the organization’s needs. “The building has asbestos, plumbing problems, a leaky roof and wiring issues,” said Board President Phil Harris.
Harris said the building was constructed in the 1940s. He said the City bought the building as a stop gap measure but W.E.L.C.O.M.E. must move.
The project cost is estimated at over $800,000. The City will donate property for the project, which is next to the Millbrook Senior Center, currently under construction.
“We deeply appreciate the way that Millbrook stepped in to help, not only their citizens, but those throughout west Elmore County,” Harris said.
In addition to the building, the organization will need money for things such as furniture, computers, coolers and other office items, he said.
He said the organization currently can’t take in any fresh fruits or vegetables because they have no coolers to store them. In addition, they also have no backup generator. If the current building lost power, it would create a tremendous setback.
“To the people we support, what we provide is really critical,” Harris said. “I’ve been in a house where the only food I found was a box of grits in the pantry. When I started volunteering, I had no idea how high the level of need was.”
W.E.L.C.O.M.E. currently has a client base of 600 families and currently serves about half that number, he said. “In the last three years, we have provided more than a million pounds of food to our clients,” Harris said.
Harris said W.E.L.C.O.M.E. has been especially blessed in the last five years to have D’Ann Pendley as its director. “She can remember the names of our clients and she knows their kids,” he said. “She has improved our administrative capacity so that we can better support our clients. I really credit D’Ann for having a huge impact with her positive leadership.
Pendley said the new building will be a “huge blessing. It will be wonderful to work in a facility actually designed for what you do. We will be able to serve more people and do it more effectively,” she said.
Below are photos of the current building where supplies are stored, and clients are served.
