A local social service agency has reached a key milestone in the construction of its new headquarters.
The National Council of Jewish Women St. Louis recently entered the public phase of its $5.4 million campaign, which generally comes once about 80% of the funds have been raised.
The organization launched the effort about 18 months ago.
The milestone is “scary but amazing,” said Phyllis Langsdorf, board president.
“I've never really been involved in a major campaign like this,” she said. “It's such a feeling of warmth and humility that people have stepped up to help us.”
The price tag for the building was originally almost $2 million lower, said President Ellen Alper. But during construction, contractors found a drainpipe that went nowhere and asbestos that had to be abated. Plus, the agency is spending about $250,000 on security alone.
“We have to keep the doors locked. We have to use key fobs to get in and out. We have video face recognition at the doors. We have to put up bulletproof glass, things that you didn't think about 10 years ago for organizations like ours,” Alper said.
NCJW has been in the new building, just across the street from its old location in Creve Coeur, since October. It’s twice the size, Alper said, which could allow the group to double its impact. The organization does advocacy work around issues like health care and gun violence. It also helps provide clothing and school and personal supplies to lower-income students.
The new headquarters also comes with 100 parking spaces.
And while a gut rehab of a building is expensive, Alper said the project will save the agency money in the long run.
“We currently pay to rent space offsite for storage, and we have MyBox containers in our parking lot,” she said. “If we need bigger space for events, we go outside into the community and we pay to do that. We will be able to host a lot of those meetings and programs here in our own building.”
