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In February 2015, OVEC purchased the building in which we had been renting office space for 17 years. It has been a long time coming to finally find a great space at a decent price, in an economically sound location and in an up-and-coming area in Huntington, WV: Old Central City. As OVEC’s Board of Directors President Rose Edington described our search for the perfect space in her office-warming speech, “It was right here all along!”
We feel blessed by our supporters, our members, our funders and our OVEC team of past and present employees and volunteers. Without all of you contributing to more than 27 years of hard work, our newly established home would not have been possible. For this we shout from the mountaintops a huge “thank you!”
After months of remodeling the space to fit our current needs and make room for more growth, we celebrated by inviting the mayor of Huntington, Steve Williams, to participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on November 7, 2015 (photos from the event below). With more than 65 guests in attendance, we had a wonderful evening of recognitions, reflections, live music and laughter. It was truly a warming and rewarding experience, and our gratitude goes out to all who participated and all who were with us in spirit.
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- Our building in Old Central City of Huntington, back when we rente…
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- The new façade — only one door now and some energy efficient wi…
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- Our name is on the door now.
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- As you walk in we hope you feel welcome. The opening to stairs and…
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- Maryanne Graham, OVEC’s finance director, is pretty pleased with t…
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- The stairs are by-the-book now, not such a steep climb as before.
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- We have a meeting room with kitchenette, which we can share with o…
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- OVEC Executive Director Janet Keating discusses some of our energy…
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- Earlybirds to the event hear a bit more about the office renovatio…
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- Gathering outside for the ribbon cutting.
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- Janet introduces Natalie Thompson, OVEC project coordinator, who i…
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- The mayor says a few words.
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- Natalie and Maryanne cut the ribbon.
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- The celebration begins inside.
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- Mingling…
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- …with food, of course.
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- Left, Rev. Jeff Allen, an OVEC board member, and Rev. Mel Hoover.
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- Plenty of room in our new meeting space.
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- The Howells like our new entry way.
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- Hey, who knew? Our landing is good for some speechifying.
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- Janet’s words stir up the crowd…
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- …and smile up the crowd.
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- OVEC Board Chair Rev. Rose Edington says a few words, too.
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- Rose also stirs up the crowd…
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- …and makes them smile.
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- Natalie introduces Brandon Dennison…
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- …of Coalfield Development Corp., which built out our new space.
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- No gathering is complete without music…
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- …provided by our own Tonya Adkins, on guitar, right, with Jackie…
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- Left, WV CAG’s Julie Archer and Kathryn Stone appear to be enjoyin…
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- Julie, Linda Frame and Kathryn all say our new space is A-Okay.
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- Counter space and volunteer work space are a big plus for the new …
We’ve accomplished a lot with our physical base being some really cramped office quarters. Of course, that’s because our most important base is all of you who have donated time, energy and money over the years. These campaigns didn’t all begin in our office space; they began when you noticed a wrong and set about gathering help to right it. They began in your living rooms and churches.
Still, there’s no doubt we’ve carried out much work in our cramped quarters. All of this was on our minds on November 7. Now, we don’t have to scramble to find meeting places, and we have real workspace for volunteers. Come see us!
Our new building features highly energy-efficient lighting, heating and cooling, insulation and windows. Our cabinets and counters are salvaged from the remodel or local deconstruction projects. We are in in the midst of a fundraising campaign — Together We Grow — to help pay for the energy-efficient renovations. So far (December, 2015), we’ve raised about $21,000 toward our $60,000 goal. If you’d like to help out, donations, earmarked “Together We Grow,” may be made online at ohvec.org/join or via mail: Attn.: Maryanne Graham, OVEC, P.O. Box 6753, Huntington, WV 25773-6753.
Photos by Vivian Stockman, except “featured image” at top right in sidebar. That’s by a photographer with the Huntington Herald Dispatch and is used with permission.
For permission to use photos (non-profit groups, school, students, low-income organization, no-income bloggers) or to purchase one-time photo-use rights (for-profit groups) contact vivian@ohvec.org. Original digital images may be available on request.
