United Way of Enid and Northwest Oklahoma is moving.
But they’re not going too far.
The non-profit organization is moving out of its building at 321 W. Cherokee and into the OnviSource building, 2300 N. 10th, by the end of next month.
“We’re not really squeezed for space, but they are donating the office space to us and the utilities,” said Sean Byrne, executive director of United Way of Enid and Northwest Oklahoma. “That will save us over $13,000 every year just through their donation.”
Byrne called the donation of the space “amazing.”
“It’s a true blessing to us and the community,” he said.
United Way has been in the building since about 1989, Byrne said. Moving into the OnviSource building allows the organization more resources and more room to expand.
Ray Naeini, chairman and chief executive officer of OnviSource, said providing office space and utilities for United Way is just the first step in their overall goal.
“Our vision in Enid is to try to create a centralized office space that can house various non-profit organizations,” Naeini said. “We would help them conduct their business from there.”
After United Way moves in, OnviSource could expand to offering other area non-profit organizations the opportunity to move into the building.
“A portion of our building will be converted free of charge to a non-profit place for Enid,” Naeini said.
As for United Way, Byrne said a local realtor contacted the organization some time ago about the space OnviSource was offering.
“It was kind of weird how it happened,” Byrne said. “We were looking for new space and a local realtor heard (OnviSource) had space out there, and said they may be willing to donate (to us).”
United Way plans on moving in within the next few weeks, and Byrne hopes the organization to be all moved in by mid-July.
“(OnviSource is) welcoming us in with open arms and it’s going to allow us to use more money now to put back into the community for various programs,” Byrne said.