Schools
Wayzata School District programs, Interfaith Outreach Are Under One Roof
Interfaith Outreach and Community Partners will open a new facility in August. The nonprofit has invited several other organizations to share the building with them including the Wayzata School District.
An old vacant grocery store in Plymouth will take on new life this summer.
Interfaith Outreach and Community Partners will move into a newly renovated facility this August, but they won’t be the only ones moving into the new digs. Wayzata School District’s adult education program will join them.
“We’re really excited to be part of this new project,” said Bob Wittman, Wayzata School District’s Director of Community Education. “We’ll be able to do things in this building that we’re not able to do currently.”
Right now programs are held at , but adult classes can only be held there when school isn’t in session.
“It’s been a good spot for us, but we can’t offer any daytime programs during the school year and with this new building we’ll be able to do that for the first time,” Wittman said.
The district will be able to expand the number of classes they offer and add new ones including senior programs and job transition classes, he said.
The school district is just one of several community partners that will be housed in the brick building off Highway 101. The main tenant is Interfaith Outreach, a nonprofit that helps people in crisis with basic needs like food and housing. A resale shop, a food shelf and an early childhood learning center will be set up along with space for Hennepin County and the school district.
Currently Interfaith Outreach is in a small building in Wayzata, but this new space will be seven times bigger. Aside from more elbow room, the nonprofit will be able to offer a modern food shelf, where clients can come in and choose the food they want rather than being handed a bag of prepackaged food, which is how the current food shelf operates.
“Aside from the new food shelf we are really excited about being able to offer all of these services in one spot,” said LaDonna Hoy, Interfaith Outreach Executive Director.
The organization was able to raise the $5.5 million needed to buy the building and complete it in about a year. All the tenants will begin moving into their new spaces in early in at the beginning of August.
“This project has been one of those barn-raising events that this country used to be known for,” Hoy said. “This whole community has come together to make this facility a reality and so many lives are going to change because of it.”
The new tenants open for business Monday, Aug. 22.
