By KYLE ODEGARD
Gazette-Times reporter | Posted: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 12:00 am
Nonprofit's assistance programs help 1,600 families annually
At its beginning, the Old Mill Center for Children and Families had eight families who were clients. Now it helps more than 1,600 families annually with everything from in-home assistance for first-time parents to grief support programs for kids.
The nonprofit will celebrate 30 years on Sunday with a fundraiser barbecue and an open house to show off $3.5 million in almost-finished construction and renovations.
The project provides the organization a better space to help children, many of whom have emotional and physical disabilities or other special needs. The improved Old Mill Center has more than doubled in size, to 28,000 square feet.
"This expansion has allowed us to have a lot more room and it's reduced behavioral problems," said Cindy Bond, the center's early childhood supervisor, during a preschool class last week. Nearby, excited youngsters lined up to head outside and splash in a sprinkler.
Staff members also have dedicated space, and that makes counseling children, doing paperwork and other work easier.
"It's so exciting. It's obviously kind of a dream come true," said Bev Larson, the founder and director of the nonprofit organization.
The 63-year-old carries a youthful vibe, perhaps because of her short, spiked hair - or perhaps because she's spent most of her life working with children. She said her favorite aspect of the job is seeing families changed for the better.
"I love what I do," Larson said.
Her mother, Thelma "Skinny" Larson, who volunteered for 28 years at the center, died in June 2007. Her favorite fundraiser for the organization was not a black-tie buffet but an old-fashioned pig roast. The nonprofit is bringing back the barbecue fundraiser in her honor. In addition to tasty meats, the event will offer music, dancing and an auction of large and small decorative pigs, created by local artists.
The center started in 1977 as a Linn-Benton Community College parent cooperative in the basement of the First Congregational Corvallis church, and then moved to a house on Eighth Street, near the Cannery Mall.
The Old Mill Center has been near Starker Arts Park since 1994, when it moved into a new 12,000-square-foot facility.
"We didn't have enough money to build what we wanted to, space-wise. A couple of years, and we were already blowing out the sides of it," Larson said. The center used a modular building, an old house on the property and a shack to house its activities.
The expansion started in June 2007. Workers crammed into the existing space and worked out of modular office buildings while construction occurred.
When the organization started, there were two employees. Now there are about 45, as well as 300 to 400 volunteers every year, said Lisa Rae Penter, director of development for the Old Mill Center.
One of the growing service areas is mental health. Last year, the Children's Farm Home quit doing outpatient services for mental health, and the Old Mill Center has taken on those clients.
The center sought to raise $4.3 million for construction of its facility and to create an endowment. So far, it's raised enough to cover the expansion, but the organization still wants to fund-raise for the endowment.
The Old Mill Center also seeks to raise $25,000 to create an on-site playground that is disabled-accessible, Penter said.
If you go
1 to 4 p.m. Sunday - open house, 4515 S.W. Country Club Drive
5 p.m. Sunday - Skinny Pig Out, Starker Arts Park, $50 per person
To RSVP, or for more information, call 757-8068 or go to www.oldmillcenter.org
Kyle Odegard can be contacted at kyle.odegard@lee.net or 758-9523.