The McKenzie Home moves forward

The dream of turning the old Washington Elementary building into a transitional home for single mothers and their children is continuing to move forward. 

Debra Moerke, the founder of the McKenzie Home Project, spoke to both the Green River City Council and the Sweetwater County Board of County Commissioners this week to give an update on the project's latest developments. 

The project started three years ago, with Moerke's own life experiences and grief helping inspire the idea. From first seeing the Washington building during her granddaughter's funeral to thinking back over her experiences fostering over 140 children and working with single mothers, multiple things came together to lead Moerke to the idea of the McKenzie Home. 

"This building just captured me," Moerke explained of the Washington Square site. "I just knew that I was supposed to pay attention to this building. Out of nowhere it seemed like God just said to me, 'this is supposed to be a transitional home for single mothers and their children.'"

In the past three years, Moerke and others have worked to make this vision a reality. She explained that the McKenzie Home has been incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, has a board of 17 members, and has been working with multiple professionals including an attorney, an accountant, an architect, and a contractor. 

In the latest update, Moerke shared that they have taken the next steps towards actually acquiring the building itself. 

"We are very excited now to be here because we have just recently made an offer on the building and it's been accepted, so we are under contract," Moerke said. 

The current goal is to be able to start construction in 2026, Moerke told the City Council. While the building itself will have to be demolished due to the fire damage, Moerke's plan is to have it rebuilt to recreate the look of the original school. She explained to the county commissioners that the building used to be an icon in the community, and has unfortunately become an eyesore.

"We want to see it become an icon again," Moerke said. 

Moerke admitted that the McKenzie Project is expensive, coming in at approximately $18 million total. But she shared that multiple sources of funding are being pursued, including a program from the Wyoming Community Development Authority. Moerke had a meeting with Green River Mayor Pete Rust to discuss this program and its possibilities. 

"It will not only benefit the McKenzie Home Project, it will benefit Green River," she said. "It'll actually help in a lot of areas to pay for some infrastructure for Green River for this project so we can partner, hopefully, with them." 

The project has been securing funding up to this point through fundraising and donations, as well as going after various grants. So far, most of the funding has gone to paying the professionals working to make the project possible, according to Moerke. In the future, additional funds will go toward the building and getting the project going. Eventually, Moerke hopes the McKenzie Home will also be able to bring in some of its own money to cover things like maintenance by leasing office space and having multi-purpose space that can be rented by the community. 

Carrie Fischer, the Chair of the Sweetwater County portion of the McKenzie Home Board, also explained that some of the "seed money" for the project has already been put to work to help single moms in the community. From giving rides to fixing vehicles, the McKenzie Home board has been working to find ways to help prior to the Home's opening. 

"We've been doing a lot of behind the scenes work these last couple of years," Fischer explained of the project. 

Both Fischer and Moerke also spoke to the need for something like the McKenzie Home, not just for Green River but for Wyoming as a whole. Approximately 32% of children born in Wyoming are born to single mothers, Moerke explained, and out of the 10 worst states for helping single moms, Wyoming is ranked seventh. 

"We have nothing like this in Wyoming, and other states do," Moerke noted. 

Moerke explained how mothers can become single through a variety of circumstances, and noted how her previous life experience has led her to see both single mothers and their children struggle and often turn to the wrong sources for help. The idea behind the McKenzie Home is to help those mothers who tend to "fall through the cracks," according to Moerke, and to give them the support and skills they need. 

The hope for the McKenzie Home is that it will be able to serve roughly 200 to 250 mothers and children in a year's time. Moerke also explained that they have already been working with local organizations and resources to be able to partner to offer certifications, training, teaching, and support, such as Climb Wyoming, Wyoming Workforce, Western Wyoming Community College, and others. She also noted that the McKenzie Home will not offer its own childcare, but will instead work with community partners, which she hopes will help children by not having to make multiple changes. 

In order to help the McKenzie Home Project continue to move forward, the third annual fundraising banquet for the project will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 26 at the Holiday Inn Ballroom in Rock Springs.

Several members of both the Board of County Commissioners and the Green River City Council praised Moerke and her team for their work on the project and the benefit it will have for the community.

"I commend your work and effort that you're moving forward with this," Council Member Sherry Bushman told Moerke. "It is such a need."