Project NOW getting ready to move to new Rock Island home

Project NOW is “turning a corner” and getting ready to move to a new home. The Rock Island-based nonprofit soon will begin moving into a renovated Star Cres International Building, located at 1820 Second Ave., Rock Island. If all goes according to plan, some Project NOW services and employees will move from its current home […]

Project NOW is “turning a corner” and getting ready to move to a new home. The Rock Island-based nonprofit soon will begin moving into a renovated Star Cres International Building, located at 1820 Second Ave., Rock Island. If all goes according to plan, some Project NOW services and employees will move from its current home a few blocks away at 418 19th St. to the updated building by this fall – probably before Halloween, agency leaders said.

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The goal is to eventually have all Project NOW programs under one roof at the Star Cres. The larger space also will allow its homeless prevention services to expand. “Our agency is turning a corner. …. This building will allow us to have sure footing in a world that is constantly changing,” the Rev. Dwight Ford, executive director of Project NOW, said Friday afternoon, July 26, during a ceremonial groundbreaking held on the first floor of the office building.  More than 50 people attended the ceremony, which was held in the former Wells Fargo Bank location inside the Star Cres. That former bank branch will be converted into a colorful and friendly reception area for Project NOW clients during Phase One of the massive renovation project. The goal is to make the location a “nice, welcoming place for clients,” said Jenni Swanson, Rock Island City Council Fourth Ward alderman. She added that Project NOW’s services are needed now more than ever because of its work to help homeless people and to help prevent people from becoming homeless. “Most people are just one bump in life from being homeless,” said Ms. Swanson. That first-floor space that will help those facing those bumps in life still resembles a bank office today. There are teller windows with FDIC signs and pens attached to small chains. But in the coming weeks, the $250,000 Phase One project will transform the former bank. Some of the projects will include:

• Office additions: Creating modern and efficient office space.
• Kitchenette renovation: Upgrading kitchenette area for a more comfortable and functional space.
• Painting: Refreshing the environment.
• Data upgrade: Enhancing data infrastructure to meet the demands of the future.
• Estes Construction, headquartered in Davenport, is the contractor for the project. The City of Rock Island earmarked $250,000 of its American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money – dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness – for this project. 

The first phase is only the beginning of renovations at the Star Cres building. Project NOW leaders on Friday said there will probably be five phases of renovation projects. They hope all that work is complete by the end of next year.  However, at this point, it’s a bit tough to nail down a more precise timeline for the work because the Star Cres building still has three tenants – all federal government agencies. It’s not known exactly when those agencies will be leaving the building. And until they do, renovation work can’t begin on the upper floors. (Project NOW leaders on Friday said they didn’t know the budget for the entire renovation.) Once the renovation work is complete, Project NOW will have much more space to help people in need. The agency’s quest to get that additional space began last fall when it announced plans to buy the Star Cres building. The move will allow the community action agency to grow from about 9,000 square feet it currently has on two floors in its current home to some 35,000 square feet on three floors of the Star Cres. During the ground-breaking ceremony, Alderman Randy Hurt, Rock Island mayor pro-tem, said he’s looking forward to the renovation project because it will help Project NOW and give an old building in downtown Rock Island a new life. Mr. Ford said the new building project reminds him of a recent team-building exercise in which he participated. That rope-climbing challenge had many members involved in the exercise holding and stretching out a safety net under the people who were climbing the rope. They were holding the net in case the person climbing slipped and fell. The Project NOW executive director said the new building will make it possible for the community to do a better job of “stretching the net” to catch people who have fallen and need help. “We have some big lifting to do. … This building will help save lives,” he added. Project NOW offers services in Rock Island, Henry, and Mercer counties in Illinois. Some of the services include: Head Start kindergarten readiness for 330 children ages 3-5 years; utility assistance for more than 7,000 households; food assistance; rent and deposit assistance; transitional housing; permanent, safe, affordable, housing; emergency needs assistance (dental services, car repairs); emergency furnace repair/replacement; and weatherization services. The agency also serves over 2,000 seniors with home-delivered meals, congregate meal sites, information and assistance, and door-to-door transportation through the RIM Rural Transit program.