ROANOKE, Va. – City officials and community members gathered today to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new RAM House at 410 Elm Avenue SW.
The RAM House - which stands for Roanoke Area Ministries - serves as a community that works towards preventing homelessness within the community for over 50 years.
“We provide about $175,000 per year to keep people in their homes,” RAM House Executive Director Melissa Woodson said. “There’d be a lot of people in the streets if not for the RAM house. We also not only feed our clients, but we feed the local community.”
They also make sure that the people who walk through their doors have a hot meal and a warm bed while trying to stay afloat financially.
“We have a day shelter and we have breakfast and lunch for people who are living on the streets,” RAM House Marketing Director Tony Clark said. “We also have a financial aid department, which helps people stay in their homes it really helps them quite a bit.”
Nearly 2.3 million dollars has been raised to move into this new facility, which will offer their patients showers, services to combat opioid addiction, mental health care rooms, a medical clinic and spaces to hold narcotic anonymous and alcohol anonymous meetings.
While completing the project, the RAM House will rent a kitchen from a nearby area church that will feed people who participate in the day shelter.
The hope is for the new RAM House to be up and running by the end of the year.
To watch the groundbreaking that happened this morning, Feb. 4, 2025, click here.