The Mercy Center for Women held a ribbon cutting ceremony along with an open house of its Anchor Community Center.

The former Holy Rosary School is being used to house people who have dealt with and suffered from homelessness.

The Mercy Center is also providing medical and educational services to help those individuals get back on their feet and become self-sufficient once more.

“I look at this as an opportunity for, if we can take a school and we can renovate and repurpose it for someone’s future, there’s a lot of vacant buildings around town. Why can’t we all take a part and make sure that we’re getting people off the street, safe, fed, educated and in a job,” said Jennie Haggerty, executive director of the Mercy Center.

The Anchor Community Center can house 32 people for up to two years, making the new total of individuals able to be housed by the Mercy Center up to 64.