Starting September 2019, OMA’s evening lectures
will take place at the East End Cooperative Ministry (EECM) in their Community House located in East Liberty.
For many decades the East End Cooperative Ministry operated its programs for homeless adults and at-risk youth out of more than two dozen locations at its member congregations. In 2013 those programs were housed under one roof at the ministry’s new Community House along Penn Circle North in East Liberty on what once was a blighted piece of land.
The building has two stories and includes an interior courtyard, a roof garden and a terrace. Numerous windows and large glass plates provide natural light in nearly every area of the building, which was constructed to achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Platinum certification.
The Community House has a large kitchen for preparing weekday meals that are served to the public as well as for an East End Meals on Wheels program and the nearby Vintage Senior Center.
For the homeless population, there are beds for emergency shelter and transitional housing programs and also for the compassionate care program that provides temporary housing for homeless people who leave the hospital and need somewhere to recover.
The education area holds classrooms and an art studio used during the day for adult career preparation classes and during after-school hours for enrichment programs for students ages 5-18 in the ministry’s programs.
A large gathering room called the “Great Room” has a mural across one wall that is a collaborative work of muralist Doug Cooper and architect and fabric artist Stefani Danes. The Great Room is where OMA will hold its evening lectures. It is a warm comfortable and safe space where we hope to have many informative, enjoyable and inspiring evening gatherings and events this year and next.
OMA looks forward to its alignment with EECM and the opportunity we now have to present holistic education to the public through our Evening Lecture Series this Fall.