The Long Beach Rescue Mission on Friday celebrated its groundbreaking on a three-story activities center outside its Lydia House Shelter for women and children.
The center will include a dining hall, chapel and gym for people staying at the shelter.
Demolition of the old building took less than a week, said Executive Director Jeffrey Levine. Construction is expected to begin in January and take eight months to complete.
A dozen families are turned away from the shelter daily, Levine said, due to a lack of space.
“Families that are sleeping in their car in the neighborhood, families that are coming out of abusive situations and who are in need of a place of healing and hope,” Levine said.
The privately funded shelter has undergone a series of expansions in past years. In August, hundreds attended an unveiling ceremony for a 50-bed expansion, and in January, the Rescue Mission will break ground on a shelter for young men ages 18 to 24.
“I hope you guys like groundbreakings,” Levine said. “We’re going to do a lot of them over the next year.”
