Dougy Center rebuilding on S.E. 52nd continues at brisk pace

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, August 1, 2012

“Thrilled!” That’s the word that the Dougy Center’s Director of Development and Communications, Brennan Wood, used to describe the progress of the new building under construction at 3909 S.E. 52nd Avenue near Foster Road.

“Our new building, replacing our original building that burned down in the 2009 arson fire, is really coming along,” Wood said, as she took THE BEE for a tour on July 17th.

On the new foundation stands a roughed-in frame, with electrical wiring and plumbing installed — ready for the windows to be set in place, and drywall to be installed.

“We expect the building to be completed at the end of November,” Wood confided. “In December, we plan to move into the building; and, we should start having our group meetings here in January.”

Until then, the local nonprofit organization that now has affiliated groups worldwide, will continue struggling in temporary facilities, miles away, to hold their support groups for kids, teens, young adults, and their families, after they’ve experienced the death of a mom, dad, brother, or sister.

It’s difficult for their 170 volunteer facilitators to interface with the staff of 12 people who together serve more than 400 clients each month, Wood pointed out, under the current conditions.

“Because our program staff has to travel to and from our temporary group location, the rest of our staff can’t interact with the families and volunteers. In a sense, we’ll be bringing the ‘family’ all together again, here, in our new building.”

Although insurance paid for part of the reconstruction, the organization has had to raise additional money to build the new building; and Wood said they’re in the “final push” of raising the last $1 million for the project.

“We had an incredible tragedy, organizationally, with the arson fire. It was devastating to us as a community,” observed Wood. “But, this building will be a huge move forward for us. It’s moving from tragedy, to hope — being able serve more families, more effectively, on into the future.”

Learn more about the life-healing work done at The Dougy Center, and contribute if you can, at their Internet website: HYPERLINK “http://www.dougy.org/”www.dougy.org