Helpline House to open new expanded facility June 8
Published 1:30 am Friday, June 5, 2026
Helpline House will open the doors to its new home June 8 at 282 Knechtel Way NE (the site of the original facility), roughly one year after construction began on the $12 million project.
The new building is over 12,000 square feet, replacing its former temporary 7,000-square-foot facility on Hildebrand Lane. On June 7, Helpline House will host a housewarming event as part of the grand opening celebrations.
“We want this to be a space where everyone feels like they can walk in for whatever reason. The front desk is the place to start. We have this concept of one front door; it’s the same front door for everyone who walks in with a question, with an appointment, with a meeting for a therapist, with any reason to come in. That’s kind of why we have this really large and what we hope is a welcoming space for folks to come in,” Helpline House executive director Maria Metzler said.
The new building also offers a community space, porch pantry, market, and space for social services on the second floor, which is also accessible by an elevator. The expanded porch pantry will include a fridge to allow for a wider variety of items and will be stocked daily to allow community members to access resources outside of standard operating hours, Metzler said. The facility also offers a commercial kitchen, allowing for repackaging bulk foods into single servings and an expanded market.
“This building now gives us the options to respond differently, better, more robustly, and more comprehensively because we have the space. We were so thoughtful and intentional about the ways that we thought through this and constructed this. Now we’re able to deliver on that and really give good services and comprehensive services to those who need it,” Metzler said.
In 2025, Helpline House distributed more than 873,000 pounds of food and served over 1,000 households, including 350 new households compared to 275 in 2024.
