Sparta non-profit Seeds of Hope opened its new facility allowing the organization to go from a winter shelter to operating year-round.
Executive Director Tina Lomax said the organization is now hosting free programs and classes onsite to help people with employment, housing, and recovery. Lomax said there are already many success stories of people who were able to find a job and a place to live thanks to the new building and its resources.
“It allows us to minister more because we are a ministry,” Lomax said. “And it allows us to not have to put time frames on individuals because we did just see them for three months out of the year. Now we have a bigger, deeper connection with the individuals that we serve.”
Lomax said the biggest challenge with the new space is figuring out how to provide food for the shelter. Lomax said churches provided all of the food when Seeds of Hope was only a winter shelter but the non-profit will need a new solution to have meals year-round.
“We already have our plans drawn for the expansion,” Lomax said. “Obviously we’ve been open just a little over a month, we’re going to be working out the kinks of what it looks like now to run a three hundred sixty-five day shelter versus just a winter shelter.”
Lomax said the organization will shift its focus towards the expansion once it gets settled into the current space. Lomax said the plan is to add more beds for men, women, and families to the building.
“Our facility is great, it’s top of the line,” Lomax said. “We’ve made sure it’s beautiful on the inside, that it’s, people can feel like this is home for the time that they’re there.”
Lomax said the programs offered at the facility include a victim impact class, recovery meetings, and bible studies. Lomax said there are also laundry services and showers onsite and the whole facility is handicap accessible.
