A 7-year-old Spokane-based ministry that operates healing rooms in 26 countries has purchased a second building near downtown, more than doubling its space here.


Healing Rooms Ministries recently bought the former Glacier Mountain Floral Suppliers building, at 115 E. Pacific, just south of its 15,000-square-foot headquarters facility at 112 E. First, says Rev. Cal Pierce, founder and international director for the nonprofit. It plans in September to expand into the two-story, 26,000-square-foot warehouse building.


The group ministers to the homeless, prostitutes, and others at its facility here and at 450 locations in the U.S. and around the world, and conducts seminars and produces ministry and training materials such as compact discs, books, tapes, and pamphlets. It currently employs 35 people here, full and part time, and has 145 trained volunteers. It ministers to about 1,000 people here monthly, and also trains about 100 people here monthly who minister for the organization at the other locations, some of which minister to hundreds of people a day.


Go back five years in the past, and I never would have thought the extent of the ministry would be doing anything like this, says Pierce.


He says Healing Rooms plans to use about 1,000 square feet of space in the lower level of the Glacier building for offices and will convert most of the remaining space on that level into a training center and conference space capable of seating 400 people.


In our current building, our seating capacity is about 120 people, and thats wall-to-wall, Pierce says. The ministry also plans to install an entrance on the north side of the Glacier building to allow easier access between the two structures.


Healing Rooms wont occupy the second floor of the Glacier building immediately, but will use that space for future growth. He adds that the building, which was contructed in 1976, was designed so a third floor could be added.


The ministrys current facility includes about 5,000 square feet of space dedicated to healing rooms, where ministry takes place, Pierce says. The remainder of the space is used mostly for the organizations print shop, its video-production department, and office space.


Healing Rooms was launched here in 1999, and moved to its current facility here in 2001. It paid $970,000 for the Glacier building, Pierce says.


The organization has an annual budget of about $800,000, and gets about 60 percent of its revenue from donations and the remainder from ministry material sales, membership fees, and conferences. Pierce says the organization could have more than 1,000 healing rooms in 50 countries within the next five years, and at that size would have a full-time staff here of 100 people.


Contact Rocky Wilson at (509) 344-1264 or via e-mail at rockyw@spokanejournal.com.