Godman Guild hopes new Downtown headquarters helps more Columbus residents access services

In her more than four years as an instructor with the Godman Guild, Trina Ardister said she continually sees firsthand the growth of many participants by the time they complete training programs and prepare to enter the workforce.

Many have been out of school or out of work, Ardister said, for a number of years. They may lack confidence when they first come through those doors; they may fear that a fulfilling career is long out of reach.

But during the course of those six weeks?

“We have to make sure they have the tools and confidence to even believe in themselves to go through the program successfully,” said Ardister, who helps participants prepare for careers in customer service and health care through the Guild’s Career Bridges program. “We really take pride in helping them develop confidence.”

It's a calling that has long filled Ardister with a sense of purpose and pride. And as the Godman Guild plans to soon move to a new headquarters in Downtown Columbus, she said she hopes she'll have the opportunity to help even more residents find a meaningful career path.

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The Godman Guild, a nonprofit organization focused on workforce development services, announced in May the purchase of a new headquarters at 195 North Grant Ave. in the Discovery District. The Guild's leaders say they hope that when they open the facility in early 2023 after completing renovations, the central location will allow the organization to reach even more Columbus residents.

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“I think we have chosen an amazing location; it gives us an opportunity to be visible to members of the community that may not have otherwise known about our services,” said Deshawn Toney, the Guild’s assistant vice president of workfdevelopment. “For those in our community who have become a part of the Guild family through our amazing programs, we will remain in a location that is easily accessible and continue to serve them as needed.”

Established in the area in 1898, Godman Guild has become the city's oldest settlement house aiding low-income residents in the area. Since 2002, the Guild has been headquartered on East Sixth Avenue in a former elementary school in the Weinland Park neighborhood on the city's North Side.

But in March 2021, the Guild announced its intention to relocate after the sale of that property to Marker Development, which has offices in Columbus and Bellefontaine. At the time, Guild President and CEO Ellen Moss cited the decreasing number of Weinland Park adults participating in the Guild's education and employment programs as the reason for the sale.

Past coverage: Godman Guild to move from long-time Weinland Park site after developer buys property

Moss made it clear, however, that with the purchase of the Grant Avenue building, the after-school academic program will continue, as will a program for teenagers learning work and life skills.

The building the Guild purchased is already the site of the central Ohio branch of OhioGuidestone, a foster care and family services organization that offers mental health and residential care. Leaders at OhioGuidestone, which has offices on the second floor of the Grant Avenue building, hope the Guild's impending move will facilitate future partnerships between the two organizations.

“We are excited to have another social service partner in the building,” said Amanda Wattenberg, assistant vice president at the OhioGuidestone and the executive director of the central region. “We anticipate the relationship between Godman Guild's workforce services and OhioGuidestone's behavioral health services to help even more people in Franklin County.”

Moss would not disclose the selling price for the building, but estimated that it may take between $3.5 million and $4 million in renovations to transform the first floor of the space into a workforce development center. A capital fundraising campaign will begin in fall, and Moss said the Guild envisions that the 35,000 square-foot facility will one day serve as an education and training space with support services.

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Moss estimated that the Guild serves up to 1,500 people a year across its various programs, but said she anticipates that the new facility — which is larger than its current site —will allow the Guild to double or triple its reach. That expanded footprint also means that the Guild may soon hire more staff, Moss said.

The Guild will remain in the current headquarters until the end of July, Moss said. But it won't be until early 2023 that she and other Guild leaders anticipate that the Grant Avenue location will be ready to open due to the level of renovations required.

In the meantime, many of the Guild's programs are taking place virtually, at various remote locations with partner organization, and at Camp Mary Orton, where youths can attend summer programs on the Far North Side.

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The future move, Moss said, is a crucial step in arming job seekers with the skills necessary to fill open positions across the region.

"For the Guild to be able to increase the number of people that we can serve is a step in the right direction but it’s really going to take our entire community working together to make a dent in the number of people who need the training to be able to access these jobs employers have," Moss said. “I’m really excited about our opportunity ... the Guild really needed this kind of facility to be a key player in this initiative.”

Eric Lagatta is a reporter at the Columbus Dispatch covering social justice issues and non-profits. Reach him at elagatta@dispatch.com. Follow him on Twitter

@EricLagatta

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Godman Guild buys downtown Columbus building with plans to expand