Ministry of Concern asks Albion to hold off on steep rent increase

Village imposing 35% hike on non-profit in Visitor’s Center

Photo by Tom Rivers: Jami Allport, director of the Genesee-Orleans Ministry of Concern, is shown on the third floor of the Albion Visitor’s Center, where the Ministry of Concern is a tenant. The village is raising the monthly rent by about $400.

ALBION – The Village of Albion is raising the rent for the Genesee-Orleans Ministry of Concern by 35 percent or by about $400 a month.

That will be a hardship for the agency, and may mean the Ministry of Concern will have less money to assist people in need locally, said Jami Allport, the director for the Ministry of Concern.

She attended last week’s Village Board meeting and asked the board not to impose such a steep increase for an agency that is mostly funded by donations.

The board is raising the rent from $1,146.67 to $1,550.96 a month. That amount also includes utilities.

“We’re a great tenant,” Allport told the board. “We’re clean. We don’t rock the boat.”

Joyce Riley, the village’s deputy mayor, said the Ministry of Concern rate was well below market rate and what the village has been charging other tenants.

The Ministry of Concern uses 2,386 square feet on the third floor at the village-owned 121 North Main St. At $1,146.67 a month, that is 48 cents a square foot. With the new rate at $1,550.96, the square footage is 65 cents a month.

That is below the $1.65 a foot paid by Assemblyman Steve Hawley for 860 square feet on the first floor ($1,416.77 total); $1.30 by the Orleans Economic Development Agency for 1,686 square feet on the second floor ($2,196.06 total); and the $1.40 a foot for Darlene Benton of Paradise Healing Arts, who uses 289 square feet for $405 a month.

“In order to do right by everyone in the village we have to raise the rent,” Riley responded to Allport.

Riley said the village offers a fair price when the rent also includes the utilities, and some cleaning and other services by the village.

Allport said the new rent, effective in October, hits the agency as it prepares for an extra busy fall and holiday season, when it sees more demands for services.

She asked the board to consider a smaller incremental rate increase.

The Ministry of Concern has six staff working out of the space, and also has two employees that run a furniture program, picking up and delivering used furniture and appliances.

The agency assists people in emergency situations. It just finished helping 116 families with back-to-school supplies in Genesee and Orleans counties.

“We’re here to help people who can’t get other help,” she said. “We’re here to build the community up.”

Allport said the office space in the Albion downtown has been a good fit. But she said the agency will need to determine what it can afford.

“We don’t want to get in a financial situation where we can’t serve,” Allport said. “We like where we are but we have to look at what we can sustain.”