MORGANTOWN — “We can do this, and we can do it together.”
Steve Farmer, a trustee with the Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust, said he’s confident that an initiative to consolidate social services at the former Ramada Inn property on Scott Avenue can get off the ground in 2020.
“Failure to do it, with the ability and resources we have, would really be a shame,” Farmer said. “It would really be a shame on all of us, right?”
Farmer sat with the Monongalia County Commission during a Wednesday work session that also included Bob O’Neil, executive vice president and chief administrative services officer for WVU Health System and Ron Justice, state and local relations specialist for WVU.
The 110,000 square-foot, four-story building with a full industrial kitchen and 10-acre property was provided to WVU Hosptials by Mark Nesselroad and the Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust with the vision of turning it into a one-stop shop for local social services dealing with issues ranging from food insecurity to homelessness, addiction, mental illness and others.
Rachael Coen, chief programs officer with the West Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness, said the ideal scenario would be an a la carte menu of wraparound services that would be individual to each person and available on one campus.
Farmer confirmed that is the vision.
O’Neil explained that the property is now owned by a subsidiary of WVU Hospitals, which has successfully filed for tax exempt status with the understanding it will be converted into a community organization.
O’Neil said work on this project dates back more than a year. He noted the charitable trust has already invested more than $2 million and WVU Hospitals has put in about $750,000. He also noted Mon Health System President and CEO David Goldberg has recently joined the initiative.
While Farmer said the county’s role in the effort would likely evolve over time, a law enforcement presence by the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department will likely be the starting point.
Ascension Recovery Services has been brought on board to steer the process, as it has for projects across the country. Ascension is currently working with the city of Boston on a similarly comprehensive project that will encompass 225 acres.
“We’re going to rely on the Ascension group to consult with expertise as to development, execution of programs and the like,” Farmer said. “Hopefully if it works out, one of the things we’d look to them to do is be full-time management and integration of the program, because I don’t think it can be done purely on a volunteer basis and be successful.”
It was explained that there are some physical improvements needed to the building and that there have already been substantial contributions made at no cost by local contractors and architectural firms.
Commissioner Tom Bloom said that the recent community-wide push addressing homelessness over the holidays has opened eyes, both in the social service community and the community at large, as to what can be accomplished when all parties are communicating and pulling in the same direction.
“I think this is the perfect time for you to come before us,” Bloom said. “It’s a different atmosphere now than it was before.”
And it is the talent and expertise of those services — many of which were represented in the audience — that will play a major role in making the effort a success.
“If you look at just the last few weeks, the talent and knowledge of the folks who’ve been in the room together, it’s almost unbelievable that a community can have resources like that and services like that,” Justice said. “Now couple that with higher education in addition to two great health systems and this really could be an opportunity to be a model community for the entire country.”
