Interfaith's Helping Partners Program to join Mary's Place

Interfaith Community Care's Helping Partners Program is moving next door to Mary's Place.

The program will leave its home on El Mirage Road to occupy a space being constructed at the Bovard Center, home to Mary's Place, 14601 N. Del Webb Blvd.

The new home for Helping Partners was made possible by a partnership between Interfaith, Rio Salado College and volunteers from Habitat for Humanity.

Participants in Rio Salado's Incarcerated Re-Entry Program are working to remodel the Bovard Center to accommodate the Helping Partners Program.

It will also have two large activity rooms, a large main area furnished with new couches, chairs and tables, as well as new carpet, paint and an outside area for games and sitting. The surrounding neighborhood will enhance the participants' daily activities. Outings, special guest performances and other activities will be shared by Helping Partners and Mary's Place participants.

Helping Partners, which serves developmentally disabled adults, has 38 participants and provides services for an average of 25 each day. The program is moving because its location belongs to the city and is being torn down.

"The Bovard site is perfect for the permanent home of this very special, and much-needed program," said Interfaith's Pam Grigsby Jones, vice president of programs. "All of the help and support we are getting from the community is amazing."

Ernest Adkins, of Rio Salado College, has been a huge help in the remodeling project. Adkins works with the college's Incarcerated Re-Entry Program through the Arizona Department of Corrections.

Since 1983, Rio Salado has been working with ADC to teach the incarcerated population the skills necessary for successful integration into society upon release. The college also works with the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections.