SALEM — In a few weeks, the Salem Mission's food pantry will begin the short move over to the St. Joseph's Food Pantry.
The mission's pantry — Harvest of Hope — will be run out of the St. Joseph's pantry in the basement at Immaculate Conception Church, while the mission considers building a small medical center in the former pantry space.
"The food pantry wasn't part of our core mission," said Mark Cote, executive director of the Salem Mission. "... All of us are going to Boston, spending money on gas and transportation. We thought it'd make more sense to merge."
The mission's pantry will close June 27, relocate to the Immaculate Conception Church and resume operation on July 25. During that time, clients from Harvest of Hope will still be able to visit St. Joseph's on Thursdays.
After the transition is completed, the pantry at Immaculate Conception will open on two Saturdays a month in addition to Thursdays.
"Folks here are not going to be left without food," said John Boris, a member of the board at St. Joseph's Food Pantry.
The Salem Mission, meanwhile, hopes to build a medical clinic with one or two beds in the former pantry space, Cote said. The idea is to give shelter residents a transitional area shortly after being released from the hospital when they still need a degree of medical attention before they can return to the shelter.
Within the last year, the shelter has hired two nurses to treat conditions like flu, high blood pressure and diabetes. Since then, the number of medical calls to the shelter has dropped 34 percent, according to Cote.
Cote said it'll be eight to 12 months before plans for the medical center move forward.
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