East Bay nonprofit changing locations, temporarily

Nonprofit organization will be closed April 6-17

By Josh Bickford
Posted 3/28/20

Tap-In is moving.

The nonprofit organization that has offered a helping hand to people in need in the East Bay for the last 37 years will be moving from the lower level at the Peck Center to a …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


East Bay nonprofit changing locations, temporarily

Nonprofit organization will be closed April 6-17

Posted

Tap-In is moving.

The nonprofit organization that has offered a helping hand to people in need in the East Bay for the last 37 years will be moving from the lower level at the Peck Center to a space at Barrington Presbyterian Church. The move is temporary, as the Peck Center location is scheduled for renovation.

Tap-In will be closed for two weeks during the move — the organization will not be able to service people from April 6 to 17. Construction on the renovations at Peck Center are scheduled to begin on April 6 and will continue through August.

“We know this temporary closing will be difficult for the hundreds of individuals who have come to depend upon us,” said Tap-In President Jo Rodehorst. “We are extremely grateful to the Barrington Presbyterian Church and its generous congregation for opening their doors so quickly to allow us to continue our services to the community."

Once Tap-In reopens at Barrington Presbyterian Church, it will offer the same level of services it had at the Peck Center. Tap-In will continue to distribute food and other household items. Tap-In will also be able to receive donations. Ms. Rodehorst said, "We remind our generous donors that we are pleased to accept their donations at our new location."

The temporary location also offers a RIPTA bus nearby on County Road and plenty of parking behind the church.

Ms. Rodehorst said volunteers at Tap-In have already started packing up items at the Peck Center. She said the items will be loaded into a moving pod, which will later be brought to the presbyterian church. Ms. Rodehorst said the RI Community Food Bank has also been very helpful as Tap-In prepares to move.

Everything has been going as well as Tap-In officials could have hoped, said Ms. Rodehorst.

Tap-In’s volunteer driver service, which coordinates transportation to medical appointments throughout the East Bay area, will operate uninterrupted during the remodeling period, using the same telephone number, 401-247-1444. 

Preparing to close

Last week, Tap-In volunteers put out larger-than-normal bags of groceries for people in need. Ms. Rodehorst said the move was done to help people prepare for the upcoming two-week closure.

"We're happy we can do this," she said.

And while markets around the country have be pressed hard to keep up with the greater demand due to concerns about coronavirus, Tap-In's food pantry is in good shape.

"The food bank is making a delivery today," Ms. Rodehorst said on Thursday.

Tap-In officials placed the grocery bags outside the Peck Center, limiting the amount of contact between volunteers and clients.

For 37 years, Tap-In (Touch A Person In Need), an all-volunteer non-profit organization, has served numerous individuals and their families in Barrington, Bristol, East Providence and Warren, providing resources to address food insecurity and economic hardship.

2024 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.