Breaking! KCM announces plans to purchase new office building

By R. Hans Miller | News Editor
Posted 10/27/20

Katy Christian Ministries Executive Director Deysi Crespo and Board of Directors President Patti Lacy recently met with the Katy Times to announce the nonprofit’s plans to purchase a …

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Breaking! KCM announces plans to purchase new office building

Posted

Katy Christian Ministries Executive Director Deysi Crespo and Board of Directors President Patti Lacy recently met with the Katy Times to announce the nonprofit’s plans to purchase a 13,300-square-foot building on about 3.5 acres of land in the Katy area as its new headquarters.

The purchase will be funded by a capital campaign led by Lacy.

“Our goal is to transform lives and make people self-sufficient,” Lacy said. “And this building campaign, this capital campaign, and this building is to help KCM have their own property and make us self-sufficient ourselves. So, to practice what we preach and be able to turn the mirror on ourselves and be self-sufficient as well and own our own land.”

The purchases of the land and building, which KCM has identified but wished to keep confidential while final negotiations on the deal continue, are part of a strategic plan designed to match the ongoing community growth in the Katy area, Crespo said.

Growth has already forced the expansion of offices nearly every year since 2016. The group started out with its administrative functions housed in a large closet at the resale store located at 5504 First Street in Katy. From there, they added about 1,400 square feet in the same building, then moved its crisis counseling center to the Kingsland Community Center in 2019. The group also added a second retail shop at 23232 Kingsland Blvd. that same year.

Growth of the resale shop portion of the nonprofit is just one sector of growth. In 2017, the nonprofit helped 912 victims of domestic violence in the Katy area. By 2019, that number had increased to 2,227 domestic violence victims. Similarly, 726,706 pounds of food were distributed in 2017 while 1,288,393 pounds of food assistance were provided by the KCM food pantry in 2019. All other reported service areas showed similar growth in KCM’s annual reports which the social services organization posts online.

Now, in order to consolidate operational space and create efficiency and allow for growth, Crespo and Lacy are negotiating a deal for the new building.

“We are under contract and we have a property identified and it is absolutely perfect. We need the help of the community, so we can help them back,” Lacy said.

In identifying property and choosing a location that best served their clients while creating operational advantages, Lacy and Crespo said the management team at KCM looked at data indicating where most of their clients lived.

One of the main benefits of the new site will be the ability to consolidate the charity’s operations, Crespo said.

“We’re still assessing and we’re going to do it in phases, right? But eventually, we’re going to have everyone under one roof and have some operational efficiency as a result,” Crespo said.

Both ladies noted that the resale store locations operated by KCM would remain at their current locations even after the land purchase.

Lacy, who is running the campaign to get the remaining capital to make the purchase, said she is excited about the project and will be fundraising for the foreseeable future in order to ensure money is raised in time. The goal is to have the down payment ready by December at the latest so that the deal can be solidified, she said.

While fundraising has been difficult this year, Crespo said the planning for this purchase was underway before the COVID-19 pandemic. Now the goal is to move forward with a capital campaign that raises the remaining funds needed for a down payment, roughly $305,000 of the total estimated cost of $1.15 million.

Crespo said about $43,000 was already raised and she was hoping the community would come together to help Lacy and herself raise the remaining $262,000 needed for the down payment.

Those willing can make immediate donations by calling the nonprofit at 281-391-5261, but pledges toward the project are welcome as well. Anyone wishing to pledge, or otherwise help on the project, can email Crespo at deysi.crespo@ktcm.org. Donations to the capital campaign may be made here

Editor's note: The link to donate to the capital campaign has been added to this story.

Katy Christian Ministries, Deysi Crespo, Patti Lacy