That’s why Hannah’s Treasure Chest this month purchased a 36,000-square-foot building at 2490 Technical Drive in Miamisburg for nearly $1.7 million. It plans to move there by no later than the end of June, Murphy said.
“We have a 40-foot storage pod in the back in Centerville where we keep things and a storage unit down the street,” she said. “We definitely need to get up and out of here sooner than later.”
Founded in Centerville in 2001, Hannah’s Treasure Chest moved to its current location in 2006 and expanded to other parts of the building in 2007, 2009, 2016 and 2021.
“Now we occupy the entire space, but because the need in the community is growing so much and we have so many partners joining our ranks, we just are out of space,” Murphy said. “(Plus), the building is in need of a lot of repair and it is not suiting our needs anymore.”
Hannah’s Treasure Chest serves thousands of local children and families, most of whom come from “economically challenged backgrounds, marginalized communities, and/or are struggling to maintain safe living conditions for their families,” according to the nonprofit. It has 75 direct-service partners in six Ohio counties: Butler, Greene, Hamilton, Montgomery, Preble and Warren.
Murphy said the new site in Miamisburg will be named the Kacie Hausfeld Center for Children’s Basic Needs in tribute to “a bright, amazing” 21-year-old Alter High School graduate and University of Dayton student who died in 2010 with her father Tom when the plane he was piloting crashed at Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport just after takeoff.
“Her family has chosen to honor her by naming the building after her and we’re just humbled to be working with the Hausfeld family to create this place in her honor and many, many other donors who have made this a reality, but we’re not there yet,” Murphy said. “We’re only about halfway to our $2 million goal to pay this off.”
Lori Hausfeld, Kacie’s mother, said her daughter was an early childhood education major with “a big heart for kids.”
“I knew (volunteering at Hannah’s Treasure Chest) is something that she would have done,” she said. “She would have volunteered there. Absolutely.”
The additional 21,266 square feet will allow Hannah’s Treasure Chest to increase distribution of diapers and clothing by expanding the HTC Diaper Bank and welcoming junior-sized apparel.
Having a new location that is more than double the organization’s current home will allow it to have all of its programs under one roof, Murphy said.
The search for a new, larger space that could keep up with the growth of its direct-service partners and expand its reach started about two years ago, Murphy said.
“We have about 20 partners waiting to join our list, some of them for as long as three years, but we cannot serve them in this space,” said Murphy, who started in development in 2017 and became executive director in December 2019 back when HTC had 33 partners. “We just don’t have another inch for another shelf, so ... we looked at just about every available space in the community and when we came upon this space in Miamisburg about this time last year, it just felt right.”
Adding more partners will allow the nonprofit to increase the amount of children it will be able to serve throughout southwest Ohio, Murphy said.
The new Miamisburg space also will allow Hannah’s Treasure Chest to receive truckload donations, helping it save money by purchasing items in bulk.
“That means the per-item pricing goes way down, which allows us to stretch our donor and grant dollars way further, so the ability to serve more children and each family more fully is increased significantly,” Murphy said.
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