The West Virginia Healthy Kids and Families Coalition is seeking a permanent home for their anti-poverty efforts.
Through the years, the coalition has grown and tried to promote a voice for the state's children and families through efforts like Our Children, Our Future and Try This West Virginia, said executive director Stephen Smith.
Now, the organization is hoping the community might be able to help them find a new home to continue their work.
"Every day, I get to come to work and watch a movement being built," Smith said. "We want to continue to provide a space that can accommodate all of these great initiatives, and more."
The Our Children, Our Future campaign has worked to end childhood poverty through legislative action.
Try This WV is a coalition working "to help knock West Virginia off the top of the worst health lists, community by community." Their website includes hundreds of ideas and "how-to" resources for those seeking information to lead a healthier life. They also provide minigrants for community teams that want to carry out healthy lifestyle projects in their communities.
Both of these efforts are housed in the WV Healthy Kids and Families Coalition.
However, they will need to find a new place to continue their efforts before Oct. 1, since the building they've used to bring all of these efforts together will be repurposed for a new cause.
"The timing is opportune," Smith said. "We're hoping that our next home is our permanent home."
Ideally, the coalition would like to find a space which includes at least one conference room or common area and 7 to 12 offices. This would accommodate all of their partner organizations.
Smith said community members could donate a building or home, or provide space in a building or home at a reduced rate (either of which would be a tax write-off), or make a tax-deductible donation at wvhealthykids.org/donate to help cover the cost of moving and start a fund to help them purchase their own building. For information, email kasey@ourfuturewv.org.
Reach Jennifer Gardner at jennifer.gardner@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5102 or follow @jennc_gardner on Twitter.