Foundation 2 Crisis Services will host a ribbon cutting and open house April 30 at the organization’s new headquarters building.
The open house will be Tuesday, April 30 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the new Foundation 2 headquarters, 305 Second Ave. SE. A ribbon-cutting with the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance will be held prior to the open house at 2:30 p.m.
The Foundation 2 Crisis Services headquarters building includes offices and meeting spaces for many of the organization’s 100 full-time and 80 part-time employees. Previously, those staff members were spread out between five offices in Cedar Rapids and Hiawatha.
Benefits of the new headquarters facility include trauma-informed space for staff, increased efficiencies, and space for community trainings, according to a release.
Foundation 2 Crisis Services purchased the historical building in October 2022. Since the 1880s, the building has served as the Cedar Rapids courthouse and post office, a bus station, senior day center, grocery store, restaurant, and more. Historically, it was often referred to as the Witwer Building.
The $5.4 million project was largely made possible through grant funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds approved by the Linn County Board of Supervisors and City of Cedar Rapids, the state of Iowa’s Nonprofit Innovation Fund, and corporate and private contributions to the Building a Foundation to Mental Wellness capital campaign.
Foundation 2 Crisis Services has provided crisis support in Cedar Rapids since 1970, including a 24/7 crisis support line, emergency youth shelter, crisis mental health support and more. Between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023, Foundation 2 Crisis Services responded to more than 87,700 crisis contacts and provided almost 3,000 in-person mobile crisis outreach dispatches.
For more information, visit foundation2.org or the Foundation 2 Crisis Services Facebook page.
