Codman Square Health Center may purchase Dot Ave. building

The Codman Square Health Center is eyeing the ODWIN Learning Center’s Dorchester Ave. headquarters, officials with the health center said this week. The health center’s board of directors last week gave the go-ahead for the center, located in Peabody Square, to explore a purchase of the property.

“We are always needing more space,” said Stephen Weymouth, head of Codman Square Health Center’s board of directors. “The other side of the coin is we would like somehow and in some way to continue the work that ODWIN has been doing for so many years.”

The learning center’s headquarters, valued at between $750,000 and $800,000, is located across from the Carruth Building at Ashmont Station.

The learning center’s board of directors voted in June to indefinitely suspend the school’s programming, largely due to a drop in funds that started in 2001.

The ODWIN (Opening the Doors Wider in Nursing) Learning Center, founded in 1964, is an adult education program which targeted working individuals seeking to earn or finish college degrees. Between 300 students to 400 students are served annually. It opened to encourage more women of color into the nursing profession.

“We think there’s a lot of synergy,” said Bill Walczak, the head of the Codman Square Health Center. “We also do adult education programs.”

Weymouth said Codman wants to run the site as a health center but also work with ODWIN officials to continue the learning center’s mission. ODWIN officials want to sell the building and may arrange to use some of the building as office space, Weymouth added.

Villages: 

Topics: 

Tags: 


Subscribe to the Dorchester Reporter