Nelsonville Community Center provides safe haven for citizens

When the Athens County Children Services ran out of funding for prevention programs in Nelsonville that funded the original Nelsonville Community Center this summer, Rhonda Bentley had a tough decision to make. As a seven-year employee of Children Services, Bentley chose to set off on her own to start her own nonprofit, the Nelsonville Community Center, to provide a safe place for community members of all ages to "just be."

Since July 31, Bentley and her team of volunteers have been relying the community's resources to run the community center, which provides free lunches on Fridays, a "free store," computers with Internet access and much more programming to aid community members.

"I knew when the money wasn't there for the center that it was either going to be closed or gone," Bentley said. "We provided a real service to the community. I decided that I could do this...There have been a few days where I've been in a panic, but for the most part it has been great."

So far, Bentley has counted on grants and community donations to pay the community center's bills. The food for the Friday free lunch also comes from community donations.

Just last week, the center was able to purchase a 15-passenger van because of a $5,000-grant from the Baird Brothers Company Foundation. The van helps bring children and families to the center who otherwise would not have a ride there.

"If we can't bring the kids here for programming, they just can't come," Bentley said.

Bentley also relies on used furniture sales to help pay the bills at the center. Community members donate unwanted furniture to the community center, and volunteers clean up the furniture and resell it for a small profit that helps cover the building's rent, electricity and other expenses. Tuesday, the center was full of office furniture like desks, chairs and filing cabinets as well household furniture like tables and comfortable chairs.

Located at 77 West Washington Street, the community center has weekly programming for girls and boys, space for small children to play and learn, and support groups for families. The center also provides a place for people in the Ohio's Work Experience Program (WEP) to gain work hours doing tasks they are good at, Bentley said.

"They feed people and give a lot of kids in the community something to do," said Arlene Boals, one of the center's WEP workers who also brings her 2-year-old son, Hunter, to play at the center. "If they didn't have stuff to do, who knows what they'd get into."

"Girl Power," the group for girls 8 to 18, recently hosted a Hula Hoop for the Cure, which raised $500 for cancer research, Bentley said. Regularly, 22 girls participate in "Girl Power."

Bentley looks to her children's programs as major successes of the community center. Children who come to the center for programming avoid legal trouble and find a safe place to gain knowledge and interact with others their age in a safe environment, Bentley said.

Offering something for children of every age, the center will bring in Santa Claus this Friday from 5-7 p.m. and will provide gifts for all children from birth to 12 years old.

This Thursday at 4:30 p.m., the community center will host its first session of "Celebrating Families," a new program funded through a grant from Athens County Children Services, that looks to help families struggling with alcohol or drug problems heal and build healthy living skills, Bentley said. Families without drug or alcohol problems are also welcome to join the group, Bentley added, because the skills taught will help families regardless of their problems.

"When you're trying as a family to deal with your basic needs, and those needs aren't there, everything else becomes a major issue," Bentley said. "At the center, we try to provide those basic needs."

The Friday free lunches bring in at least 50 to 60 individuals each week. The center never asks questions as to why someone comes to eat, Bentley said. They also provide food boxes to anyone who comes to the center if they need it.

The back half of the community center is overflowing with donations to the free store - everything from winter coats, wedding dresses and encyclopedias are there for the taking. The shelves upon shelves of books and clothing were all donated by community members and organizations like the Nelsonville Public Library. Everything in the store is free to anybody who needs it.

"We had two full racks of winter coats, but since it started getting cold, the coats flew," Bentley said. She added that they center is receiving more hats and coats from an organization in Columbus this week.

Volunteer Christy Hine comes to the center every day to help organize the clothes in the free store.

"I come here every day because I enjoy it," Hine said. "I enjoy helping people find clothes for their family and helping me find clothes, too. I get to meet lots of different people."

The free store, though, is chillingly cold as the center does not currently have enough money to properly heat that part of the building. For Bentley, heating the free store is just one of her goals for the center's future.

"I would love to be able to be able to do what we do on a larger basis," Bentley said. "I want to expand to have more programing for the general population."

To get involved at the Nelsonville Community Center, call 740-753-4100 or just stop by Monday-Thursday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Friday 10 a.m.-2 p.m.