CINCINNATI — Local nonprofit organization St. Vincent de Paul opened a new outreach center in the West End Friday morning to help assist more people in need.
"The new center is truly for our neighbors," Becky Catino, co-chair of the Upward Spiral Comprehensive Campaign, which provided funding for the center, said.
The center is called the Don and Phyllis Neyer Outreach Center, named after community leader and businessman Don Neyer and his late wife, Phyllis, and is located at 1146 Bank Street.
The new center is a 36,000 square-foot facility which has a food pantry, charitable pharmacy, health clinic and chapel. A homelessness prevention center larger than the center at the Liz Carter Outreach Center, St. Vincent de Paul's previous home, is also on site at the new center.
"St. Vincent de Paul operated out of our old building since 1962 and outgrew its capacity," Mike Dunn, executive director of St. Vincent de Paul - Cincinnati, said. "Our ability to serve our neighbors was hampered by the limitations of our physical space."
The Liz Carter Outreach Center is not closing down though. The old center will still be the location of the organization's administrative offices and the Ozanam Center for Service Learning after it is refreshed and refurbished.
"With the opening of the new center, we can ensure more of our neighbors find the help and hope they need to move upward," Bart Kohler, St. Vincent de Paul volunteer and co-chair of the Upward Spiral Comprehensive Campaign, said. "Our goals are to provide the most dignified experience possible for families and provide better access to our emergency services... The new Don and Phyllis Neyer Outreach Center allows us to meet those goals."
