The few issues have been addressed immediately. Tours are taking place in the South Tower, too, and each time she sees such a parade, Claudia Raymer hopes another non-profit will pull the trigger on the transition just like she did for the Ohio County Family Resource Network (OCFRN).
That is why the executive director of one of the first new tenants on the former campus of Ohio Valley Medical Center not only believes the South Tower will be full in the future, but she remains confident in the potential presented by the four other structures.
“The South Tower on the OVMC campus was pretty much move-in ready with just a few things that had to be taken care of,” Raymer said. “But I couldn’t have asked for more than what we have received from Kurt Zende and the folks with the city of Wheeling. When there were some minor issues with the boiler, they immediately brought us a few space heaters, and the grounds are maintained very well.
“That’s why I think this would be a great location for other non-profits in the area, and we would love to work with those folks so we can make this a great situation for all of the organizations,” she said. “One of the things we have talked about is consolidating the costs for supplies and maybe even some employees. We are all working toward the same goals, and we’re all doing that with a very thin budgets, so anytime we can help each other is a very good thing.”
Tour After Tour
Kurt Zende, the economic development director of the city of Wheeling, has been marketing and recruiting potential tenants for the five buildings resting in close proximity to each other along 22nd Street in Center Wheeling. To this point, Helping Heroes has started renovations to the former home of the Hilcrest Behavioral Health Center, some city offices have moved into the Education and Administration Building, and interest has been expressed in both the West Tower and the East Building, too.
There is also a non-binding memorandum of understanding that’s been signed between the city and Bluefield State College, an investigating agreement that could bring an engineering branch of the college to the campus. A joint opposition statement released last week from officials of Wheeling University, West Liberty University, and West Virginia Northern Community College, however, could have placed such a deal in jeopardy.
That development, however, has not swayed Raymer’s optimism.
“I have seen a lot of people taking tours of the South Tower, so we’re always hopeful that we’re going to get neighbors in the near future. I understand it’s not going to happen overnight, but I am very confident that this building is going to be a success for the city,” Raymer said. “I know there is a lot of interest among people with other non-profits, so I am hopeful something can work out for them just like it did for us.
“There are spaces in the South Tower that would be great for a non-profit with five or six employees, and other spaces for room for a lot more than that,” she said. “I just see so much potential not only for the South Tower, but for the entire campus because it’s a chance to better serve the community. I see this campus as not only an asset to the city of Wheeling, but as an asset for the city of Wheeling.”
The Mission Moves Forward
At times, the OCFRN is a proactive organization when Raymer and others view national drugs that sooner-than-later land here in the Upper Ohio Valley. The current drug epidemic is an example of such efforts, but for Raymer and her colleagues the past year has focused primarily on the pains of the coronavirus pandemic.
And no one saw Covid-19 coming, now did they?
“Our initiatives have always changed based on what the community needs us to do,” she explained. “But those needs change pretty frequently. We focus on things like child abuse prevention and substance abuse prevention, but that has changed during the pandemic because we have been doing a lot more with food security.
“We now have ‘Blessings Boxes’ at two locations (West Liberty and Valley Grove) in the county, and we formed a food security team that works on making sure we can get food to the people in need,” she said. “Our goal is to operate as an organization that gets involved with collaborative activities that are important to the citizens of Ohio County.”
Raymer orchestrated the non-profit’s move to the OVMC campus nearly six months ago, and her new location has satisfied several needs involving accessibility, storage space, and potential for, well, neighbors.
“We had been located on 13th Street in East Wheeling for about 10 years, and then we had an opportunity with the city of Wheeling here on the OVMC campus,” she explained. “We started our move back in September, and we have taken our time to make it our new home. We now have much more space and that has been very helpful.
“The city of Wheeling is very aware of budget constraints with non-profit organizations, so they have given us a very affordable rate,” Raymer added. “When it is safe to do so, we will be able to host a lot of meetings here instead of having to do that elsewhere, and it’s a very accessible location, too. We have a lot more parking, and our entrance is now ADA compliant, and that’s a very good thing, and everyone knows where OVMC operated all of those years. Giving directions to our office really is no longer needed.”
