Many from the community showed up Saturday to help Randy Sams' Outreach Shelter employees, volunteers and clients celebrate the completion of its $750,000 expansion and renovation.
John Delk, Randy Sams' board president, spoke at the event.
"This facility allows us to give a hand up, not a hand out for those we serve. This is a place that allows us to build a bridge from homelessness to having a home," Delk said.
The project added central heat and air conditioning to the shelter, expanded the women's quarters and added storage for residents and the shelter.
The administrative offices were moved from the shelter building at 402 Oak St. to 803 Spruce St., about three blocks away. The Outreach Center also has a new library and computer room for clients, offices for the shelter's case management team and a newly installed kitchen for the Be the Blessing bakery and job-training program.
"I'm just overwhelmed and speechless," said Cathy Brown Smith, bakery director. "This kitchen will allow us to train more people because it's larger, and we have a storefront now, so people will be able to stop by and buy our products."
The bakery storefront will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.
Products for sale include cupcakes, bread pudding, cookies and cheesecake.
The computer room and library will help shelter residents reach their goals.
"So often, our clients feel like they don't have anywhere to be, and lack of those resources are a barrier to them returning to the life they want to lead. So knowing that's an option for them and having someone on staff with the intent of helping them is just going to provide a sense of relief," Jennifer Laurent, shelter executive director, said in an earlier article. The expansion and renovation were supported by donations from the community.
"We had some cash reserves we applied to it, but we got donations for the largest part of it," Laurent said.
The project is complete, but the work of the shelter isn't done.
"We're seeing more and more homeless in the streets and more are coming to the shelter. I don't know where they're coming from but they're coming. This project is complete today, but we still have to house the homeless and make sure they have the things they need. Our mission is still to help people return to self-sustained, community living and that doesn't end," Laurent said.
The Randy Sams' Outreach Shelter Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization, was developed as a product of a labor of love. Randy Sams was a local teenager who volunteered at the local Outreach Kitchen. In May 1993, Randy was killed. In honor of their son, Randy's parents donated land and seed money to establish a shelter that would serve the greater Texarkana community, hungry, poor and homeless. The shelter opened Jan. 6, 1996, and averages 85-95 guests per night.
Melanie Gloster, a classmate of Randy Sams', attended the celebration.
"I walk around and see all this and think about what Randy would think of this. He'd be thrilled," Gloster said.
To date, the shelter has transitioned more than 1,250 clients to permanent housing and more than 13,000 community clients have received utility assistance, rental assistance and food baskets.
