On Waller Mill Road, the recently renamed Historic Triangle Messmer Community Services Center provides space for multiple local service agencies. (Hannah S. Ostroff/WYDaily)
A few years ago, a man walked into the Historic Triangle Community Services Building looking for a lifeline.
He and his wife had both recently lost their jobs. At the building, which houses a dozen service agencies and organizations on Waller Mill Road, he received assistance, a temporary part-time job and, through them, the means to get Christmas presents for his two young children.
To Bill Unaitis, Community Services Coalition president, those stories are what makes his labor of love worthwhile.
“For somebody to walk through that door looking for help, that takes a lot of courage. There’s a lot of need,” Unaitis said.
The Historic Triangle Community Services Building is celebrating its 20th anniversary last month, and for 20 years has served as a one-stop shop for residents in need.
The Williamsburg-James City County Community Action Agency, FISH, Peninsula Agency on Aging, Williamsburg-James City County Head Start and others call the space home.
With the many organizations under one roof, the building offers a wide range of services: food, clothing and housewares at FISH; youth programs through the Community Action Agency; transportation to and from medical appoints for those without access to a vehicle via RIDES; and legal services on immigration issues by two William & Mary Law School graduates who travel down from the District of Columbia eight to 10 days each month.
Nearly all the building’s tenants are nonprofit groups, but those that do not have the designation are still geared toward helping the community, like a program for healthcare training toward certification or a fitness instructor who helps children and those with diabetes lead healthier lives.
The idea for the center, an affordable and centrally located space for multiple agencies, started with a task force put together by resident Don Messmer.
“The issue was that we had a lot of wonderful organizations that wanted to help people, but they were scattered all over town,” Messmer said.
Through his time as president of the board of United Way of Greater Williamsburg, Messmer was familiar with the area’s many service groups. Referrals were frequent between agencies, but for those without a vehicle, jumping between them was not an easy task.
“It might as well be in Richmond, is the point,” he said of going from one side of the Historic Triangle to the other.
The Historic Triangle Community Services Building, located on Williamsburg Area Transport Authority’s tan bus line, reduces the distance between organizations from across town to down the hall.
The task force of 24 was able to purchase the building, a church on Waller Mill Road that had fallen on hard times, through the support of the three Historic Triangle localities, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Anheuser-Busch and a number of local groups and citizens.
Some tenants, including FISH, the Peninsula Agency on Aging and Community Action Agency, have been in the building the full 20 years as a base of clients has steadily grown.
The center estimates it will see a total of 33,250 clients in fiscal year 2015, which started July 1 and goes through June 2015. All but about 200 come from the City of Williamsburg, James City County and upper York County, though some might visit multiple offices within the building.
After the United Way of Greater Williamsburg, an original tenant, moved to offices in New Town, the center added its own referral network in October 2013. Visitors sit with a staff person to consider the gamut of their needs and are then referred to appropriate agencies within the building or in the community, as needed.
From about 12 to 15 families entering looking for help each week, the center now greets an average of 20 to 25 every week. And with a slow bounce back in the economy, Unaitis expects that number to grow by another 5 to 8 percent in the next year.
Looking back to the start in 1994, Messmer did not expect the project to blossom as it has.
The Historic Triangle Messmer Community Services Center (Hannah S. Ostroff/WYDaily)
With gratitude for his many years of service, including acting as the first president of the board, the building was renamed the Historic Triangle Messmer Community Services Center in his honor.
The change was a surprise to Messmer, announced at a luncheon Nov. 20 celebrating the center’s anniversary.
But Messmer shies away from recognition, saying his proudest accomplishment was getting Unaitis to agree to serve as board president four years ago.
During Unaitis’ tenure, and for the first time ever, the center has reached 97 percent capacity.
Most of the recent increase is from existing tenants who have expanded their space within the building, the fruits of a renovation five years ago to convert some of a large gymnasium into office spaces. The work allowed the building to rent more area on a consistent basis, earning revenue used to support its resident agencies.
“If the foundation wasn’t there, we wouldn’t have been able to do it,” Unaitis said, praising Messmer’s contribution.
“I’d like to believe we’ve made a nice team,” Messmer added.
In addition to the pair of Unaitis and Messmer, the center moves forward with the assistance of its board of directors, grants from the community and work of Building Manager Dennis Welch, who spends 20 hours per week to keep the space running.
Moving beyond a 20th anniversary and into the future, Unaitis said he hopes to expand the center’s programs to help residents, especially seniors.
This fall saw the start of monthly lunch and learn sessions, with food provided and a new speaker each time to educate on various topics from managing debt to weatherizing homes to be energy efficient. Through the sharing of resources in a central spot, just like the building, all are aimed at fostering a self-sufficient community.
To learn more about the center, visit its website.