MCC moving to downtown digs

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This article was published 05/11/2022 (1112 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Mennonite Central Committee Manitoba is moving to the Exchange District — a location it says better reflects its mission — after 36 years in the suburbs.

In the spring, the organization will leave its office off of Pembina Highway near the University of Manitoba, and relocate to the east Exchange.

“We want to be closer to where the people we serve live,” said executive director Darryl Loewen. “Newcomers, refugees, Indigenous people, youth in need of employment.”

Its mission is “to share God’s love and compassion through relief, development and peacebuilding.”

The move will also bring the organization closer to its partners in the inner city.

“So many newcomer organizations are close to the new location,” Loewen said. “We look forward to being closer to that community of non-profits.”

The move will enable the organization to bring all of its 30 staff into one place. Currently, some staff work out of its Plaza Drive location, while others work out of a building on Henderson Highway in Elmwood.

“We want to work at creating a good staff culture together,” said Loewen, noting the two groups seldom see each other on a regular basis.

Loewen is high on the new building at 140 Bannatyne Ave.

“It’s a nice building on a nice street, the neighbourhood has a good feel,” he said, noting the organization will be renting about 12,000 square feet on the first floor and part of the second floor — about 3,000 square feet less than the present two locations.

“It has beautiful architecture with post and beam construction and big windows,” he said.

Also moving to the new location is Sam’s Place, a social enterprise café at the Henderson Highway location.

The café, which serves a small lunch menu, provides employment skills to youth and young adults who face challenges entering the workforce. “It will be a great location for people nearby who want coffee or lunch,” said Loewen.

The café will be located on the first floor alongside MCC Manitoba’s material resources centre, where volunteers pack and ship relief kits, comforters, blankets and other aid for people in the developing world.

The café will be separated from the material resources centre by a glass wall that will enable visitors to see materials being prepared for shipment overseas.

“We’re excited to be able to show that off,” said Loewen, noting seeing volunteers at work might prompt café patrons to become interested in that aspect of MCC’s mission.

The resources centre is equipped with a freight elevator and truck-level door for easy movement of items. “It’s a straight shot to the elevator and truck loading,” Loewen said. “It’s very functional.”

Loewen is aware some MCC supporters in southern Manitoba might be reluctant to drive to the city to visit the new office. For them, the organization has a material aid resource centre in Plum Coulee where they can drop off items for donation.

Janet Plenert, chair of the MCC Manitoba board, is excited about the move.

“The world is so broken,” she said, adding the organization wants to be closer to people experiencing brokenness in their lives. “We want to make it easier for them to get to us.”

By leasing and renovating space in a historic building, instead of building a new office, MCC Manitoba will also lessen its carbon footprint, she said.

While there won’t be the same amount of free parking as at the current location, the organization will rent spaces in a nearby parkade for visitors.

Loewen declined to say how much the old office sold for, or name the buyer except to say it is a development company that will use the office for its headquarters and use the river-front property behind it for multi-family housing.

MCC Manitoba co-owned the location with its national office. MCC Canada staff will not move to the new Exchange location; an announcement about its new office is expected at the end of November.

“We are relocating separately and amicably,” said Loewen. “It’s a friendly, blessed parting.”

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