FACES Will Not use STEPS Building for Partnership; Grant not Approved

By Crystal Vandegrift, Staff Writer

FARMVILLE – STEPS, Inc. and FACES of Farmville recently learned that a $600,000 grant that would have helped them grow their businesses was not approved.

“Last year, STEPS had begun working in partnership with FACES to create space in the STEPS Centre for their operations. In addition, STEPS and FACES began working with FeedMore to create a regional distribution hub in The STEPS Centre so that access to fresh food will be more readily available to the citizens in our region,” said STEPS President and Chief Executive Officer, Sharon Harrup.

FeedMore is a hunger relief agency which serves 34 cities and counties in central Virginia. They serve more than 200,000 people in the region, and their primary function is to provide food to the region’s most vulnerable citizens.

STEPS sought to have their building’s roof repaired in anticipation of the partnership. Several years ago, Prince Edward County received a grant which was used to replace about half of the roof on the STEPS building.

With the help of Prince Edward County, STEPS, Inc. applied for a grant through the Department of Housing & Community Development known as the Industrial Revitalization Fund program that would have helped with roof replacement on the STEPS building.

Now, FACES and Feedmore are back to looking for a distribution hub to serve the area.

As for STEPS, Harrup said, “There are no immediate plans (for the building) but we are always open to new collaborations.”