Rural Portage County Residents Find Rebirth at Renaissance Family CenterWCRural Portage County Residents Find Rebirth at Renaissance Family Center

By Stephanie Heading, managing editor

Residents of Windham, in northeast Portage County, know exactly where to find Renaissance Family Center (RFC). 

Housed in a former elementary school on Wilverne Dr., RFC serves both the physical and spiritual needs of residents.

True to its name, RFC is a place of “rebirth” in a community that has fallen on hard times. 

Businesses and churches have left the village in recent years with the only bank and pharmacy closing earlier this year. Even the Catholic church in town closed its doors. The area is also a food desert—a place with no store that sells fresh food.

“It’s really challenging for folks. It’s the poorest part of our county,” said Betty Gray, executive director,  Renaissance Family Center, and wife of Pastor David Gray. “You might not know it by looking at it either. But there’s some real challenges, and the same challenges you would find in a larger city are here.”

In 2010, an area pastor and his church purchased the empty elementary school and remodeled it to serve as an outreach center. 

Today, RFC is a hub of community resources and services including:

The Windham branch of the Portage County Library-- “The library would have been financially strapped to stay in Windham altogether, but we were able to give them a reasonable price, so they are one of our tenants,” said Betty.

The Salvation Army-- “The Salvation Army does the clothing—they give free clothing away,” Betty said. “They do a monthly food drive called the Red Shield drive where they pass out about 20,000 pounds of food each month that serves between 170-210 families.”

They do a monthly food drive called the Red Shield drive where they pass out about 20,000 pounds of food each month that serves between 170-210 families.

As a tenant of RFC, The Salvation Army pays rent for its office space, but they also partner with RFC. “We cooperate with them to be able to pass out all of the different kinds of food,” Betty said. 

Second Blessings Thrift Store -- “We take in estates from people all over,” Pastor David Gray said. “The clothing goes to The Salvation Army and the other goods that are serviceable go to us and we clean them up and put them in our thrift store. People can go to the thrift story, like any thrift and buy things for pennies on the dollar.” Many of those who donate to the center are people who are purging items from their homes as they downsize.

The Renaissance Center uses the proceeds from Second Blessings Thrift Store to help fund services and costs of running the center. “It’s a faith ministry,” said Pastor David. “It’s really something trying to keep this 9,800 square foot building running well.” The center also relies on donations and rent from RFC tenants to make ends meet. 

The AMETEK Food Forest-- “One of my favorite things is what we call the AMETEK Food Forest,” Pastor David said. “It is a garden and this garden is inside of our building, basically surrounded on all sides. In fact, the only way you can get into the garden is through our building.”

The garden includes fruit bearing trees, all types of herbs, garlic, and Bok choi. “We’ve already harvested probably 20-30 pounds of strawberries in the past week and a half,” Betty said. \

We’d like to teach people sustainable living, so we teach people how to grow all kinds of things.

“We’d like to teach people sustainable living, so we teach people how to grow all kinds of things. We often give away plants to people so they can start things for themselves. It’s also a great green space for people to come and relax and just enjoy it.”

The center also offers jobs programs, exercise rooms and conference space. [DS1] RFC is also a gathering place for senior citizens who come in weekly to play cards and hang out. The Windham Historical Society is also headquartered in RFC. 

This summer RFC is hosting a summer lunch program for children and youth as well as recreational activities in the gym. A three-on-three basketball tournament and Vacation Bible School are also on the RFC schedule.

Following a tornado in Windham earlier this year, RFC housed five Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Teams who traveled to the area to help—four Ohio DR teams and a team from Pennsylvania DR. 

As the Executive Director, Betty keeps everything running smoothly. “We just try to help in a lot different ways. Our core organization obviously is the Renaissance Family Center. We are really trying to have an impact on the community evangelistically,” Betty said. 

She also directs the workforce of RFC. “All of our workers work for free so all of these programs are done for free,” she said. ”Volunteers man the front desk, take in donations, sort, and price donated items, and do custodial work,” she said. During the growing season volunteers also work in the Food Forest. 

Betty has seen the Lord moving in the ministry of RFC. “O my goodness, the people who come through here just making use of the facility and the volunteers that we have, being able to build relationships with them. We get into some really deep spiritual conversations and that has been a blessing, and it’s just all motivated by God,” Betty said. 

Recently, RFC experienced God’s blessing once again with an unexpected grant of $15,000 from a company in the area. 

Betty continues to trust the Lord to give RFC what it needs. “God always has a way of bringing the funding that we need when we need it. This wasn’t something that we applied for. We didn’t even know about it. And God just said, ‘Here.’God has truly blessed us in such unique and wonderful ways.”

For more information on Renaissance Family Center, visit the website at www.windhamrfc.com.