It’s been a while since we provided an update on our progress with Reese’s House, so we wanted to share what we’ve been up to and some of the challenges that we have been working through. It has not been easy and we have experienced our fair share of challenges, but we are closer than ever to opening!
Right before we closed on our building, we found out that 4 HVAC units for our air conditioning were stolen while the building was vacant for almost a decade. Additionally, our compressor for the walk-in refrigerator and freezer was also stolen. When we had professionals come out to look at our HVAC system, we learned that we also need to replace a furnace.
Replacing all of the HVAC units and the furnace is going to cost us about $40,000. To get a new compressor for the refrigerator and freezer, it is going to be $11,000. Since we are a while away from needing AC, we are focusing our efforts on the furnace and compressor, which is going to cost us about $20,000.
To make matters more frustrating, after closing we learned that the city of Millville (where we are located) was going to continue charging us property taxes for the rest of 2022, even though we are a nonprofit. We tried to do something to alleviate some of this financial strain, but the city was not willing to help. As a result, we will shell out almost $10,000 in property taxes to cover the rest of this year. The plus side is that we were able to apply for tax exemption for 2023 and beyond so this should be a one-time issue.
When we purchased the building, we knew that there were going to be issues with the zoning of the property. As a nonprofit, it is required for us to have an attorney and engineer to apply to the city for a zoning change. We spent a lot of time searching for a local attorney and engineer for this process. Thankfully, we found individuals that were willing to help at a discounted rate! Even still, we will probably end up paying our attorney $2,500 and our engineer $1,500. The application fees for the city cost us about $3,000. We submitted our zoning application last week and should be on the agenda for the December 1 meeting. If all goes well with the zoning meeting, we will be able to officially open and start running programming for our community shortly after.
As you can see, we have had our fair share of challenges! Thankfully, we have also had our fair share of victories! We have found a way to absorb a lot of the costs from our fundraising and recurring grants. We are continuing to look into various grants, low-interest loans, and more to find a way to make things continue to work. We have also had a huge amount of support from our community to get us where we are today and we could not be more thankful!
If you would like to read a little more about what we are planning on doing at Reese’s House or if you would like to learn how you can support our mission, just click here. If you know of any great grant opportunities or other avenues of help, just send an email to us at contact@ourfuturefirst.org.