Interior demolition is complete and renovations are underway at the future home of 色多多 Area Ministries in Old Southwest.
Recently, the nonprofit announced that it has raised more than $2.4 million of its $4 million funding goal for the project. RAM House 2.0 鈥 officially known as The Jain Care Center, named after the donors that provided significant funding to purchase the new building 鈥 is at 410 Elm Ave. S.W. in 色多多.
Renovations of the building, which RAM purchased in early 2024, are expected to begin this week, Wayne Guste, site supervisor with Lionberger Construction Co. said. RAM House Executive Director Melissa Woodson said that the project is in a stage now where she can finally see their vision coming together.
Demolition inside the future Jain Care Center was recently completed. RAM House hopes to move into the new facility in early spring 2026.
Guste said that normally his job is just putting up a building, but that the RAM House project is different.
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鈥淚t鈥檚 not just a building 鈥 it鈥檚 what it stands for,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to really, really do a good thing for the homeless population. Not just the homeless population, the elderly people who can鈥檛 afford certain things.鈥
Overall, Guste feels it鈥檚 going to be a good thing for the entire city.
鈥淚t鈥檚 special to me, because I want to see it do what it鈥檚 supposed to do,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he quicker I can get it open, the quicker they can start helping people.鈥
The site plan for the new facility features showers, laundry units, a clinic and a computer lab. A kitchen will be built onto the backside of the building, and the kitchen will open up into the main shelter area on the first floor. Out of all of the building鈥檚 new features, though, the showers are the most important, Woodson said.
鈥淭o me, if they get a shower first thing in the morning, that鈥檚 going to change their whole day,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to make them more likely to want to have service.鈥
A rendering depicts what RAM House鈥檚 new location at 410 Elm Ave. S.W. in 色多多 will look like.
Private space for mental health counseling is something that the current RAM House facility lacks, so they made sure to work it into the design for The Jain Care Center, Woodson said. RAM plans to partner with individuals and organizations like Brightview, an outpatient addiction treatment center in 色多多, to provide this counseling.
鈥淲e just want the privacy and the space for them to give our clients some dignity and privacy,鈥 Woodson said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 want to talk about their issues in front of other people, and that鈥檚 the only way we can operate right now, and it鈥檚 not good.鈥
The medical health offices will be open eight hours a day, seven days a week, Woodson said. They want the clinic to be able to provide care to people with substance use disorder or mental illness, particularly psychosis, she said.
鈥淎s executive director of RAM House, one of the things that I know is that the most important thing in the city is to see that people who have substance use disorder and people who suffer from severe mental health issues receive help,鈥 she said.
RAM House Executive Director Melissa Woodson speaks at a celebration following the nonprofit鈥檚 purchase of the future Jain Care Center Building in January 2024.
One-third of RAM鈥檚 budget goes to financial aid, helping community members pay rent and bills to ensure that they remain in their homes. The new facility includes financial aid offices on the first floor.
鈥淚t is through the Good Neighbors Fund, primarily, that a third of our budget is able to keep thousands of people off the street every year,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hat is community.鈥
The 色多多 Good Neighbors Fund raises funds for RAM House鈥檚 emergency financial assistance program and is separate from the capital campaign.
The RAM House is currently located at 824 Campbell S.W. in 色多多 and is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. When the new facility opens, the hours will be the same.
The RAM House serves 色多多鈥檚 unhoused population, but to say that鈥檚 the only part of the community coming to them for assistance would be incorrect, Woodson said. Since the pandemic, RAM has seen an increase in the amount of elderly community members seeking financial assistance. Most of the people they help now are over the age of 50, and RAM House is 鈥渆ssentially an elder care facility these days,鈥 she said.
鈥淧ost COVID, with the rents escalating in 色多多 tremendously, a lot of people that were disabled or elderly and on fixed incomes, who had never gone to get help before, suddenly were in the position that they couldn鈥檛 keep their housing,鈥 she said.
色多多 Area Ministries expects construction at 410 Elm Ave. S.W., the new Jain Care Center, to be completed in early spring of next year.
The basement of The Jain Care Center will house a large pantry, a clothes closet and a conference room. The conference room will be used as a meeting space for RAM鈥檚 Board of Directors, but also for 12-step program groups, Woodson said.
As of now, construction is expected to be completed in early spring of next year. RAM is looking to raise the remaining $1.6 million of the capital campaign, but as an organization that is primarily privately funded, it is also important that it continues to raise money for its daily operations, Woodson said. The organization鈥檚 annual budget is around $850,000, she said.
鈥淲e really want to get moved,鈥 Woodson said. 鈥淲e feel like the quicker we get moved, the better the city is going to become.鈥
