Space Fills As Center For Nonprofits Approaches Five-Year Anniversary

STAFF PHOTO SAMANTHA BAKER 
• @NWASAMANTHA 
Statues of Harvey and Bernice Jones watch people exit Friday at the Center for Nonprofits in Rogers. The center will celebrate its fifth birthday in April. The center hosts 34 nonprofit organizations.
STAFF PHOTO SAMANTHA BAKER • @NWASAMANTHA Statues of Harvey and Bernice Jones watch people exit Friday at the Center for Nonprofits in Rogers. The center will celebrate its fifth birthday in April. The center hosts 34 nonprofit organizations.

— Debbie Messersmith paused Friday morning inside the doors of the Center for Nonprofits at St. Mary’s to tell her granddaughter about Harvey and Bernice Jones.

Alexis Messersmith, 7, remembers ice skating, but not the Jones sculpture at The Jones Center in Springdale. Harvey Jones has his hand in his pocket because that’s where he keeps his pocketwatch, Alexis said after listening to her grandparents’ stories.

The Joneses were good to the community, and the Center for Nonprofits, with many agencies, is a good thing, Messersmith said.

She visited the center Friday to pick up medical supplies, but it reminded her of the years it was St. Mary’s Hospital where she met newborn nieces and nephews, now grown.

“The building means something to me because it was the city hospital for so long,” Messersmith said.

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The Center For Nonprofits At St. Mary’s

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The 300,000-square-foot Center for Nonprofits at St. Mary’s campus officially opened in April 2009, said Tom Galyon, property manager. Now 34 organizations are housed in the center and surrounding buildings. Operations at the center are supported by The Jones Trust and corporate donations.

The object of The Jones Trust is to support philanthropic efforts, Galyon said. Low rent offered to community service organizations at the center gives them a chance to focus on making a difference.

The center also plays a community role by hosting corporate training, job fairs and weekend weddings and quinceaneras, Galyon said.

The center is 92 percent filled following the June addition of American Red Cross offices to the main building and the October move of Kendrick Fincher Hydration For Life office into one of the houses on the campus, Galyon said. A few 250-square-foot incubator offices and two 500-square-foot suites remain, he said. There are no plans to expand operations.

Offices for Kendrick Fincher Hydration For Life were in an office behind Burger King for eight years, said Rhonda Fincher, executive director.

She toured the center in 2009 and two years ago looked at the house where their office is located, but the move didn’t make financial sense until last year. There are only two staffers and one is part time, but with volunteers developing curriculum, working accounting or setting up for heat stroke awareness training, the golf tournament and races later this year, she’s had five or six people work in the office at a time.

“The space has helped us better utilize volunteers,” Fincher said.

Renting meeting space can be expensive, but the meeting space at the center is a perk for organizations there, Fincher said.

The Northwest Arkansas chapter of the American Red Cross moved from Tontitown, said Rick Harvey, communications specialist. The chapter coordinates disaster relief in 18 Arkansas counties and Sequoyah County in Oklahoma.

The American Red Cross already offered first aid, baby-sitting and CPR classes at the center, Harvey said. There is increased visibility for the offices with a lighted sign that faces Walnut Street, and it is beneficial to have neighboring offices that share goals, Harvey said.

“You never knew when you need to collaborate with another organization in the building,” he said. “It’s just kinda a good vibe when you’re walking down the halls.”

When the building opened in 2009, the Benton County Health Unit of the Arkansas Department of Health was one of the first tenants, Galyon said.

The health unit moved in on a holiday weekend, and opened the next Monday in September 2009, said Loy Bailey, administrator.

On Friday, 20 adults and an equal number of children lined the chairs in the waiting room. The exam rooms at the center are larger than those at most local health departments because they were once hospital rooms, but some days they could use a little more room in the lobby or storage, Bailey said.

He likes the proximity to other agencies. Health units are part of emergency preparedness and other agencies on the second floor share that purpose, Bailey said.

“It’s good to have them close,” he said.

Agencies in and outside of the building collaborate through monthly meetings of the Benton County Community Coalition, a community health issues group. It helps groups keep from duplicating others’ efforts and keeps them informed on issues of the day, Bailey said.

The community is apparent inside the building, said Tuesday Eastlack, chef and general manager of food service at the Center for Nonprofits and director of catering. The center can serve as a model for others, she said.

She sees a lot of interaction from behind the counter of Ginnie’s Place, the lobby cafe run by NorthWest Arkansas Community College students.

There is the man waiting for his wife’s appointment to end, seniors who enjoy the blue plate specials and fresh flavors of the cafe. Students learning English as a second language come in for a cup of house blend coffee and a cookie and practice their English by making change or asking for more cream.

“Anytime you get to create community where people demonstrate care for each other, it grows and builds compassion,” Eastlack said.

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