Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
A gathering of volunteers, supporters, and staff of the Lake Wales Care Center gathered Friday near the organization's offices on East Park Avenue to celebrate and mark the 40th anniversary of the non-profit that has come to be among the most essential providers of services for a significant share of the area's population.
A sign cut by volunteers decorates the side of the main offices of the Care Center in downtown Lake Wales. The organization celebrated the completion of 40 years of service to the community with a street party on Friday.
Hundreds turned out in sweltering weather to seek shelter from the intense sun in the shade of a large tent erected to house them, eager to mark their participation and support of the Care Center.
The celebration included a variety of foods prepared by area churches, restaurants, and non-profit organizations, as well as "trolley tours" of the various programs and properties administered by the organization. An inspiring program that summarized the impact of the center's programs included a keynote address by Care Center Director Rob Quam.
Quam was selected to lead the program immediately after his graduation from Warner College, now Warner University, in Lake Wales. Quam's initial one-year assignment grew to two, and he eventually became the official face and administrator of a growing sheaf of programs and initiatives.
Hundreds of volunteers and supporters of the Care Center gathered Friday afternoon for a street party to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the non-profit. Guests enjoyed foods prepared by area churches, restaurants, and non-profit organizations.
"I jumped on my surfboard after college and just caught a good wave," a smiling Quam said in describing his role at the non-profit, which touts a slogan of "People Helping People Helping People."
Begun as a concept during meetings of the city's Ministerial Association in 1985, the Care Center now administers programs as varied as Meals on Wheels, a free clinic, a community garden, a home repair program, and a bicycle ministry, and more. "Enterprise" efforts include two thrift stores, a bookstore, and online stores.
The Care Center recently used a million-dollar grant of county-directed federal Covid recovery funds to purchase and renovate the former Crystal Lake Apartments on East Park Avenue to increase their supply of "transitional" housing, offered largely to newly separated women, often with children. Similar services are housed in small multi-family buildings scattered around nearby neighborhoods. Most are indistinguishable from their neighboring structures.
At a volunteer luncheon held Thursday at the First Presbyterian Church family center, Quam referred to the several "scattered" downtown structures the center owns, some of which were donated to the organization during poor economic times. Quam has obliquely questioned whether the current arrangements are efficiently providing their wide range of services.
The Care Center's administrative offices and other services are concentrated in the former Park Avenue Hotel and adjoining building in downtown Lake Wales. The board of the service organization is contemplating a future that may include constructing a new central campus to provide a more-efficient business model.
A 24-member board of directors is conducting a long-term "visioning" effort to set goals for the next 40 years, Quam said, acknowledging that keeping the offices in the heart of a reinvigorated downtown district may not make sense.
The Care Center's popular thrift store stands along the newly-reconstructed West Park Avenue, adjacent to the historic Walesbilt Hotel. The ten-story hotel was recently re-acquired by the City of Lake Wales and is targeted for restoration. Should the hotel project move forward as expected, the store's parking lot could become the preferred location for a long-discussed downtown parking garage.
"Our board won't stand in the way of restoring the hotel," Quam told Lake Wales News.net, saying that a sale could likely be negotiated, but he expressed concern over the expected high cost of constructing new facilities to house many programs and administrative services on a combined campus.
Quam estimates that the group occupies about 84,000 square feet of commercial space around the city, including the Care Supply Company on East Seminole Avenue.
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