The Kitchen Inc. is moving forward with plans for a new campus by breaking ground for the new facility at Glenstone and Chestnut Expressway.
The O'Reilly Family Campus will include a shelter with 13 apartments and one apartment of respite care. A second building will have office space for 26 case managers as well as operational staff.
Jim Newman, chair of the Board of Trustees for The Kitchen, Inc., said, currently, the organization is spread out over several buildings.
"It'll mean that we'll be able to provide more efficient services because we have everybody in one location," he said. "It also will allow us to help people develop the housekeeping skills and stuff so that, when they get their own place, they will know how to keep up and maintain it and that sort of thing."
The shelter will be a short-term place for single women, youth and families to stay while permanent housing is found for them.
He said the new campus won't just impact homelessness. It's expected to make a positive difference for other issues as well.
"We know that healthcare costs and other things--crime and healthcare--go substantially down if people have a place to call their own, and that's important for us to provide housing for them," Newman said.
Completion is expected next spring.
A capital campaign to pay for the new campus continues.
