HOPE House is in early talks to purchase its Downtown Guelph home from Lakeside Church.
“Presently, there is a conversation taking place between Lakeside Church and Lakeside Hope House,” said Jeff Groenwald, senior leader at Lakeside Church. “There has not yet been an offer to purchase the building.”
Lakeside Church opened HOPE House at the location in 2012, calling it "a community care ministry." It currently offers a variety of services to the city's more vulnerable, including hot meals, a food bank and various programs, including backpacks for children.
A potential change in ownership of the 18,000 square foot building at 75 Norfolk St. would be a catalyst for growth for both Lakeside Church and HOPE House, said Groenwald.
But talks are in the early stages.
“Plans have not been made at the present time to put the building on the open market,” he said.
Lakeside Church paid a reported $1 million for the 182-year-old limestone Norfolk Street United Church in 2012.
The negotiation will not be news to the Lakeside Church congregation, which has already been notified of the possibility of a future sale.
Jaya James, executive director of HOPE House, said no announcement has been made on her organization end because no deal has been struck.
“We are in discussions with Lakeside Church about seeing if we can come to terms on to purchase the building, but no terms have been established yet,” said James. “Because we have no terms, we haven’t made an announcement.”
HOPE House is currently looking at the financial feasibility of purchasing the building.
“We’re going to do what is going to make sure the organization does well so we can continue to serve people,” said James.
The legal name for the organization is Lakeside HOPE House, but lately it has been operating mostly as the more simple HOPE House.
Although they have a strong relationship, James notes the church and organization are separate entities, each governed by its own board of directors.
“A lot of people don’t know we are separate entities because of the name,” said James.
In a joint statement, James and Groenwald said the best way to describe the current relationship between the two entities as a strategic partnership.
"The church partners together with Hope House on many of its initiatives throughout the year and encourages volunteer participation of the church in the work of HOPE House," said the joint statement.
The Lakeside Church is not severing its relationship with HOPE House, said Groenwald.
“The relationship between the church and Hope House will not be affected by whether or not Hope House purchases the building from Lakeside,” said Groenwald. “Our relationship remains as strong as it always has.”
James also said HOPE House is looking to increase its existing partnerships with Royal City Church on Quebec Street, but that is separate from the purchase of the building.
"We are trying to find ways to do more things together, simply because how our programs operate — we are open during the day and they are open during the night," said James. "We want to partner with them more and we are looking for opportunities to do that more.”
