By Melanie Thomas
Special to the Odessa American
Workers at the Permian Basin Mission Center hope some improvements to their facility will help them in their mission to meet both the physical and spiritual needs of those they serve and help the community better see who they are.
Both the front of the building and the poles received new paint and the driveway was repaved.
New Executive Director Hank Herrick said he hopes the improvements and information about what the mission center does will help people realize “we’re not an abandoned warehouse and that we are significantly helping the community.”
The interdenominational benevolence center, located at 208 Adams Avenue, helps provide eligible residents with food boxes, clothes, rent and utility assistance.
Herrick said the 40 to 50 pound food boxes, which include both dry goods and refrigerated items, are pushed in carts to deliver to those who come the facility in their vehicles. He said the repaved driveway with a slope named the “Gabe slope” after the pantry warehouse supervisor Gabriel Reyes, makes it easier for the workers to get those boxes to those who need them.
Reyes said he offers words of encouragement and prays with those he senses may need it. He said meeting both the physical and spirituals needs is the original mission of the couple who founded the center back in 1998.
The center is funded by donations from various organizations including United Way of Odessa, Abell-Hangar in Midland, various area companies and individuals. The center also holds a yearly fundraiser, Odessa’s Got Talent.
Herrick said the Mission Center has seen an increase in the number of families – 637 new clients since the beginning of the year — it serves because of the inflation.
He said the center has given out $13,000 to help with utilities, $12,000 to help with rent and said more than $54,000 worth of food has been distributed to at least 6,000 different families.
The Mission Center is open Monday through Friday from 9 am to 3:30 pm and the Food Pantry is open 9 am to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
For more information about the center, call (432) 337-0554.
