ST PAUL, Minnesota — Open Arms of Minnesota is opening its arms wider.
The nonprofit celebrated the opening of its new location in St. Paul on Tuesday. The expansion allows it to serve more people in need of healthy and medically tailored meals.
"We are 30-some years old. Started in 1986 and started in the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Really at that time, our focus was getting meals to people who were sick. Now our focus continues to be meals for people who are sick with all different kinds of life-threatening illnesses. Now our focus really is the right meals," said Open Arms CEO Leah Hébert Welles during a press conference Tuesday morning.
Open Arms' capital campaign raised $6.8 million with $4 million going toward the nearly 17,000-square-foot St. Paul kitchen and campus at 380 E. Lafayette Frontage Rd.
During the pandemic, the nonprofit saw a 40% increase in demand. This year, they expect to serve at least 1.3 million meals but the number could end up being much higher than that.
The second location allows the organization to have the infrastructure in place to meet those growing needs. The expansion will help them gear up toward increasing meal production, shipping and delivering by an estimated 30% by 2025.
Meals are free, medically tailored and prepared to be culturally relevant. Not only do clients receive meals, but dependents and caregivers are also included.
"If you can imagine, being sick and eating healthy is a lot of work. You have to meal plan. Think about especially if you need lower potassium or lower sodium and you have to go shopping and look at labels and figure that all out. We take the guesswork out so that we can give time and energy back to our clients," said Danielle Brady, senior director of volunteer engagement and hospitality for Open Arms.
The new location will also allow Open Arms the ability to expand its reach to include western Wisconsin for the first time.
"The number of people they'll be able to serve has only doubled by coming here and the need has only increased since COVID," St. Paul Councilmember Rebecca Noecker said.
During the press conference, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter recalled delivering Open Arms' 10 millionth meal last summer to a client.
"It just really touched me forever just how critical, just how much life Open Arms delivers to his apartment every day," Mayor Carter said.
Nevermind ribbons, Open Arms of Minnesota celebrated its new St. Paul location with a "bread-cutting" ceremony.
They will also host an open house celebration on Saturday, Feb. 4 from 2-5 p.m.
Open Arms relies on volunteers, needing 520 in Minneapolis and 350 in St. Paul each week. Volunteers can be as young as 8 years old if accompanied by an adult. You can find more information, here.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities in our YouTube playlist: