To better meet the needs of the 250-350 Lorain County households served weekly, Oberlin Community Services (OCS) moved into the newly named Cooper Community Resource Center in September 2023. Its purchase of this 27,000-square-foot facility (former headquarters of the National Association of College Stores) in December 2022 was made possible by generous donors, Fran and Roger Cooper.

“We had a little 10’ x 10’ cooler and a 10’ x 10’ freezer, but those were often so full that we couldn’t store more food. And demand was growing and growing and growing. We had been in the old building for 20 years, and the demand that OCS had predicted when they first moved in in 2001 had far outpaced those projections,” says Jason Hawk, communications and development coordinator for OCS, referencing the old 5,600-square-foot facility.

Hawk says the cramped indoor space in the old location also meant the indoor choice pantry was only available once a week. “We had to tear down the choice pantry to make room to pack boxes for food distribution. Then we had to set it back up again once we were done. It was a nightmare in terms of efficiency.”

After almost a year of post-purchase renovations, a dedicated space created on the first floor of the Cooper Center for the indoor choice pantry and a warehouse with a much larger walk-in cooler and freezer now allow for operations on Mondays and Wednesdays from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. and Fridays from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

“It’s always up and set up like a grocery store,” Hawk explains. “Clients can come in, grab a grocery cart, and then shop for what is right for their families. We still do curbside service for those who prefer to come during our distribution times to get a pre-packed box. But we are not doing near the amount that we used to do. People really want to come inside.”

The new location also increased parking capacity from eight spots to 78, with 10 additional spots close to the building allowing easy access to the entrance and alleviating the line that often stretched around the building for hours during food distributions. The second floor was next, undergoing cosmetic renovations and changes and cleaning it up,. OCS is actively seeking other nonprofits and government agencies to join them under this new roof to make a one-stop-shop resource hub for food, emergency financial assistance, education and a variety of other social services that OCS does not offer such as mental health counseling available to southern Lorain County.              — Lara Busold