Work clothes, hands and fingers sprinkled with dust and splattered with fresh paint, Donna Dussault-Walker swiftly moved from room to room with a certain bounce to her step.
ACAP Child and Family Services has found a new home, and its leader is excited about the possibilities.
“This is a labor of love,” said Dussault-Walker, during an impromptu tour of the agency’s emerging renovated center that adjoins the First United Methodist Church.
The Auburn congregation, one of ACAP’s founding churches 42 years ago, offered the agency a permanent home in its Christian education wing. ACAP leaders and volunteers officially broke ground on April 20.
Last weekend, volunteers got busy repainting offices and classrooms, installing new lighting and getting the wing up to code in anticipation of a July 5 opening.
“They’ve started at 7:45 a.m. and they will be here until things are done,” Dussault-Walker said of the volunteers from Auburn’s Utility Vault-Oldcastle Precast, who held a painting party last Saturday. “They’ve given us a day of caring.”
ACAP has undergone many changes in recent months. No longer a go-it-alone nonprofit agency that serves area families and children, ACAP has formed a partnership with multi-faceted Auburn Youth Resources, making it one of its many youth programs.
The agencies had worked together for years, making it a natural partnership, said AYR Executive Director Jim Blanchard.
Dussault-Walker says ACAP’s relationships with AYR and the church ensure her agency’s footing with the opportunity to grow.
ACAP’s new place potentially will reflect that, she said.
The wing, once fully completed, will feature two offices and four classrooms, each designed for an developmental age group. There is room for infants, others for toddlers and preschoolers.
ACAP also will offer two playgrounds, one existing, the other in the construction phase.
ACAP will share a kitchen with the congregation and a pantry with the Auburn Food Bank.
Dussault-Walker says many businesses, volunteers and ACAP board members are to thank for making the renovation possible, including Donovan Brothers and Quality Fencing. Others who contributed to the makeover were: JB Rupert; architects David T. Spangler and Ray Vefik; Wayne Ness Construction and Handyman Service; and Auburn Rotary
Soroptimist International of Auburn; Noon Kiwanis; Kiwanis of the Valley; Scotty’s General Construction; Miller Fabrication, Inc., and Auburn Mechanical.
ACAP’s official moving day is July 1. Volunteers and donations are needed.
The agency operated at the former White River Presbyterian Church before the church folded and ACAP’s lease expired.
ACAP’s new home is located in the back of the church, 100 N. St. SE. It will be open 6:30 a.m.-6 p.m., Monday-Friday, serving two snacks and two meals each day to children.
ACAP has a limited enrollment of 50. There are some program openings. For information, call 253-939-0870.
