Marc McMurphy put on a white construction helmet, wielded a sledgehammer and prepared to tear through the wall at the Cornerstone Building in Henniker.
McMurphy is the executive director of the White Birch Center, the community organization that initially bought the building as a space for seniors and is now getting to work on converting it into a home for the Henniker food pantry.
Over 30 people from the community — members of the food pantry, White Birch Center leaders, a construction team and local residents — gathered on Friday to celebrate the start of construction and to usher in a new chapter for the Main Street building.
“I feel great, not just because we’re finally getting this going with the construction, but just — there are so many people that this is going to affect, the food pantry,” McMurphy said. “So, I’m just super excited for them.”
The food pantry is currently housed in the basement of The Grange Building, near the town library. Bill Sullivan, the pantry’s treasurer and a volunteer of five years, said its location has become an accessibility issue for older people who cannot use stairs.
In the Cornerstone Building, the food pantry will have two floors: The first floor will be a “retail space” for clients coming in for assistance will primarily and the basement will all be for storage.
“We’ll have more space,” Sullivan said. “It will be two levels, but at least the people coming in aren’t going to have to go up and down stairs.”
Construction is expected to take nine months, and the food pantry’s new space is expected to open sometime in late next summer, McMurphy said.
The new space will also house the office of the town’s director of human services, Carol Conforti-Adams, who has helped people navigate services like Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP benefits and subsidized housing for 16 years.
Conforti-Adams currently works part-time in “a very small, little office” on the first floor of the Grange Building. She said she is looking forward to seeing more people be able to physically access the building and the services she and the food pantry provide.
“I’m just very excited for the residents of Henniker to be able to have a center that is for everybody,” she said.
The White Birch Center has the largest licensed childcare facility in Henniker, with about 150 families enrolled across several programs. Over 300 seniors across New Hampshire also participate in many programs the center offers.
With that many people involved with the organization, its building on 51 Hall Ave. was becoming cramped. Leanna Lorden, the center’s chief operations officer, said the old space for seniors was “used inch to inch.”
When a local quilt shop closed in June 2024, McMurphy saw the Main Street building as a perfect opportunity to expand the center’s operations. The team gathered loans, grants and donations to cover the $675,000 cost of the building, and in July of 2024, it moved into the already-renovated portion of the building.
“We call it divine intervention of just gracious community members and organizations coming together to help us purchase this building,” Lorden said. “From there, the seniors moved right in… We can see the space is open, it’s welcoming, it’s bright, it’s really suitable.”
The center needs a total of $3 million to cover the costs of construction. Through fundraising efforts, they have already raised $2.2 million.
McMurphy told the crowd on Friday that there’s not a long way to go: The center will be launching a capital campaign, and if 1,000 people give $200 every year for five years, then they’ll reach their fundraising goal.
“That’s one of the points that we’re trying to get to here, is to build community,” he said. “That’s our vision, to enrich life and strengthen community. And that’s what it’s all about.”