Volunteers Rally to Build New Community Wellness Center

ServCorps volunteers from Connecticut
gathered to build the Community Wellness Center at Grace Cottage this fall.

Some people compared it to Extreme Home Makeover, Community Wellness Center Edition, others to a good old-fashioned barn raising. It was magical to watch 30 Serv­Corps volun­teers from Hart­ford, CT, come to Townshend during two weeks in September to build a 1,000 sq. ft. addition and transform the interior of the Heins Building into a Community Wellness Center.

"They started with just a concrete slab on Monday morning," said Jim Crozier, Facilities Manager at Grace Cottage, "and by Wednesday we had a new structure with four walls and roof trusses. Most of these folks are retired or still working in professional careers in other fields - we had an airline pilot, an oncologist, a symphony orchestra manager, a postmaster. But what really impressed all of us was their energy, their enthusiasm, their construction expertise - they've done this many times before."

"This was probably our favorite project to date and we've done a lot of them," said Rich Grobe of ServCorps. "The community was so appreciative, and the Grace Cottage employees were so helpful, as was the Townshend Congregational Church, where we cooked our dinners."

The Community Wellness Center would not have been possible if it weren't for generous donations in the form of a $100,000 grant from the Fanny Holt Ames and Edna Louise Holt Fund, an $80,000 bequest from the estate of June Kipp, donations made in memory of Heidi Shine, and West Townshend architect Vance Hosford's gift of his architectural design services. A late November ribbon-cutting ceremony is anticipated.

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