Community Resource Center to kick off $10.5 million capital campaign

The nonprofit Community Resource Center will host a kickoff event on Oct. 23 for a campaign to raise $10.5 million for renovations to its Encinitas campus.

“Our facilities that needed attention haven’t had any significant ongoing care and maintenance to them since we purchased them,” said John Van Cleef, CEO of the Community Resource Center, which is located on Second Street in downtown Encinitas. “And though we kind of adapted them along the way, we really needed to take a look at how they function to meet their current needs and use.”

Van Cleef added that the upgraded facilities will “help beautify and add depth to downtown Encinitas.”

The Community Resource Center provides services for people experiencing issues including homelessness, food insecurity and domestic violence. Momentum for the campaign picked up over the last couple years, when the Community Resource Center purchased the property next door, directly to the south of its current facility.

“That gave us a new vision for what we could accomplish through the capital campaign,” Van Cleef said. “Rather than just remodeling what we have, we had the opportunity to look at program needs and program design and add some space we needed.”

The campus of the new facility will have all program services located on the ground floor for more equitable access, according to a news release. It will also include a new building to house and distribute food from the nonprofit’s Food & Nutrition Center, entry foyers for clients so they don’t have to wait outside on the sidewalk anymore, a breakroom for the staff, and a space for group therapy and other services.

“What this remodel will really do is help us connect with those folks in a way that provides for their dignity and privacy,” Van Cleef said.

The ongoing housing crisis throughout California and more recent issues, such as inflation, underscore the need for the services that cities, nonprofits and other organizations are trying to provide to vulnerable residents.

“More and more people are economically vulnerable because of things like their increased grocery prices, increased gas prices, utilities are going up, rents are going up,” Van Cleef said. “There have been a lot of economic pressures placed on families.”

The capital campaign kickoff will take place on Sunday, Oct. 23, from 2-4 p.m. at Coastal Roots Farm. The event will include music, snacks, crafts for kids and more, according to the news release. For additional information and to RSVP, visit www.eventcreate.com/e/crccelebrate.