(L to R) Tracie Hodson, Beaman Home Executive Director; Cindy Dobbins, Warsaw City Councilwoman; Sue Creighton, Beaman Home Board President and Campaign Chair; Lon Roth, DJ Construction Project Manager; and Renea Salyer, Warsaw Chamber of Commerce, begin the demolition for Beaman Home's remodeling.
After nearly 30 years, The Beaman Home is celebrating the first step of its journey to a new emergency shelter and outreach center.
The remodeling of a building purchased in 2012 located at 603 N. Parker St., Warsaw, began Wednesday. Kosciusko County Shelter for Abuse, Inc. (better known as The Beaman Home) has been providing essential services to domestic violence victims and their children from Kosciusko, Marshall and Fulton Counties since 1985.
Beaman Home provides a safe haven, along with supportive services, while partnering with and educating the community, allowing victims to live with dignity while helping to break the cycle of violence.
Since it’s inception, Beaman Home operated in an 1,800-square-foot, single-family home. That facility no longer served the needs of clients and offered no room for program expansion
Renovation of the existing building on the site is phase I of the project. The contractor for the project is DJ Construction Company. Mike Miller, Manager-Business Development for DJ, said phase I consists of a complete interior renovation and exterior facade upgrade. Total square footage involved in the first phase is 4,040. Estimated completion date is March, when Beaman Home will occupy the new outreach center and administrative offices.
“DJ Construction will do all we can to help equip The Beaman Home to fulfill its mission. We are glad to use our skills and expertise to help an agency like The Beaman Home change lives,” Miller said.
Beaman Home Executive Director Tracie Hodson said the renovation is “so much more than just a building or another construction project. It’s about providing appropriate space and improved programming to better support domestic violence victims and their children as they heal from the damaging effects of abuse. It’s about saving lives.”
Board president Sue Creighton said phase I will enable domestic violence victims and their families to attend ongoing counseling and training programs regardless of whether they are staying in the shelter. It will also allow a new program to begin to help children cope with the abuse they’ve experienced.
“The goal of this children’s program is to reduce or eliminate the generational cycle of domestic violence that is prevalent in abused families,” Creighton said.
Phase II of construction will add a two-story emergency shelter to the west end of the existing building, allowing domestic violence victims to heal in uncrowded space designed to serve their unique needs. Plans call for that construction to begin in the spring, expanding total square footage to 10,000.
Additional donations are needed to complete the emergency shelter portion of the project and a campaign to raise the remaining funds is underway. Beaman Home has been humbled by donations for the new facility and is grateful for the community’s support.
Over $1.4 million has been raised toward the $1.8 million needed to complete the entire project. Donations both large and small will allow them to reach that goal.
Contact Hodson at 574-372-3503 or tracie@thebeamanhome.org for information. Donations may be mailed to The Beaman Home, P.O. Box 12, Warsaw, IN 46581-0012.
(Story By The Times Union)
