Guests visiting The Beaman Home Outreach Center congregated in the great room to learn more about the center and enjoy refreshments.

WARSAW — The first portion of a dream, which began close to four years ago, has come true for the The Beaman Home board of directors. Tours of its newly remodeled facility at 603 N. Parker Street, Warsaw, was given Sunday, Sept. 13, during an open house. Good news was also shared with visitors.

Sue Creighton, capital campaign chairman and immediate board past president, stated enough funds have been raised to begin construction on exterior walls of the emergency shelter and extended reception area on the west end of the outreach center. Funds are also available to complete the exterior work. But funds, an additional $300,000 is still needed to finish the interior of the shelter.

Creighton stated once completed the project will have cost $1.6 million.

The outreach center was occupied in late July, early August. That first week its first client walked in. The outreach center offers counseling, training programs and support groups for clients, whether man, woman, teen or child. These services will be available to any one.

The new center includes a board room/adult training room; a great room ,which can serve as a dining room for 40 plus people; and a commercial trade kitchen large enough to use as a teaching kitchen.

A large children’s activity center was created providing a safe place for children to play and be observed by an advocate to assist in areas of need. It will also allow the parent, child and advocate to work together in the Flip It Program. This program uses the strategy of taking a behavior and working to flip that behavior. Through donations from Altrusa and the KREMC Pay It Forward program, books on back talking, whining, screaming, anger, bullying, which accompany the program have been purchased and available to use by parents.

The remainder of the outreach center contains administrative offices and a counseling room.

Phase two of the program, a two-story emergency shelter, will include a secured reception entrance added to the northwest corner of the center. A library and living quarters are included in this phase, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2015.

The day was also a celebration of the birthday anniversary of the “founding mother,” Mary Ann Cox, who would have celebrated her 85th birthday. The key founder passed away in January. Cox and her sister Altrusans founded the shelter in 1985. She worked tirelessly for over 30 years serving domestic violence victims in the community. A special recognition of Cox can be found on one of the walls in the great room.

Pledges and donations can be sent to The Beaman Home, P.O. Box 12, Warsaw, IN  46581-0012. Community members wishing to have a personal tour of Beaman Home’s new Outreach Center to learn more about the organization’s future plans may contact Hodson at (574) 703-0722 or [email protected].