New Bishop Griffin Resource Center is dedicated in Columbus

Bishop Earl Fernandes blessed the rebuilt and expanded Bishop Griffin Resource Center on Monday, Aug. 14 during a dedication ceremony.

The center originally opened in 2007 as a project of the diocesan St. Vincent de Paul Society in the former Christ the King Church rectory at 2875 E. Livingston Ave. on Columbus’ east side to serve families and individuals in need. It was named in honor of Bishop Emeritus James Griffin, who served the diocese from 1983 until his retirement in 2005.

Bishop Griffin, 89, was on hand for Monday’s ceremony.

Construction began last year on the new space after the original structure was demolished. During the transition, the center operated out of a temporary site on East Broad Street in Whitehall.

The new center, which officially opened to patrons on Wednesday, Aug. 16, includes the Mid-Ohio Market at Bishop Griffin, which provides food at no cost in a grocery-store setting. The market, which occupies 3,730 square feet within the 11,600-square-foot center, is three times the size of the former food pantry.

In addition to the market, the center will offer clothes, school supplies and backpacks for students as well as access to job readiness, technology literacy and financial training programs along with other services.

The market within the center is one of six Mid-Ohio Markets, including five in Franklin County, that are part of a partnership with the Mid-Ohio Food Collective, which is the largest hunger relief organization in central and eastern Ohio.  

The Mid-Ohio Food Collective works with more than 680 partner agencies in 20 counties to address the needs of the hungry.

“To me, this is all about: How do we treat people with dignity?” said Matt Habash, president and CEO of the Mid-Ohio Food Collective. “They’re asking for help. And we’re here to help. And that’s, collectively, the vision of all of this at the end of the day.

“It really is about everybody coming together and asking, ‘How do we take care of each other?’ I think that’s the grounding of our ministry together, that’s what this space is all about, and we could not do it without everybody coming together.”

Father David Schalk, the former Christ the King Church pastor who is now at Powell St. Joan of Arc and Columbus St. Peter churches, explained at the dedication the origins of the Bishop Griffin Resource Center, which started as a “simple food pantry” to help east-side residents in need and “grew and grew and grew.”

“I arrived here at Christ the King in 2010, and when I peeked in the door of the old rectory, which was the Bishop Griffin Resource Center, it was full,” he recalled. “That little house was full. It was filled with volunteers in the two-car garage, in the kitchen and old dining room – people packing bags and moving groceries. There must have been maybe 20 volunteers.

“And then it was filled with neighbors in need, the clients of the Bishop Griffin Resource Center. And the waiting area was jammed, and there were people lined up outside the door. I remember there were lots of smiles, lots of joy in that place. And it was filled also with food, floor to ceiling.

“There was clothing, Christmas gifts. There was not one empty square inch on all three levels. And I laughed and said, ‘This is an anointed ministry. And this is a force for good on the east side. And I left that building after that tour and said, ‘We should build a new building for the Bishop Griffin Resource Center.’ And, guess what, it only took 13 years.”

A multiyear “Lift Up Your Neighbor” campaign raised more than $4.5 million with the help of donors to fund the design and construction of the new facility.

“Those of you who know me know my favorite word is ‘persevere,’” Father Schalk said, “and so we persevered through all of these years, the trials and tribulations, the ups and the downs of this very, very long process. And I am so grateful that this community rallied around this ministry, and this community rallied together to build this new center.”

Father Steve Fernandes, OFM Cap., the new pastor at Christ the King and a Franciscan Capuchin friar, said the Bishop Griffin Resource Center fits in well with the Franciscan charism to show dignity to people on the margins in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi, the order’s patron.

“Many of the folks who are coming here are today’s lepers, and we are called to embrace those people, to give them hope,” Father Fernandes said. “We may not change their social status in life, but we can give them hope, and, most of all, we can give them love.”

Father Schalk paid tribute to Bishop Griffin at the ceremony for his support.

“Really, your service to this community was the inspiration behind this ministry when it started in 2007,” Father Schalk said. “So we are, day in and day out here, seeking to honor you for your legacy, and we want to continue that legacy.”