St. Margaret’s Center has been serving the community in the same Inglewood location for 15 years.

The center’s director, Mary Agnes Erlandson, said it was in desperate need of a makeover.

“The center really was run down, and the floors were awful,” Erlandson said. “Our furniture has just been a melange of whoever donates to us.”

So when she got a call from the Westchester Rotary Club that they had selected St. Margaret’s for their makeover project, she was ecstatic.

“I think I screamed because we knew there was a process to be selected,” Erlandson said.

The $100,000 renovation included new vinyl flooring, energy efficient lighting, new staff cubicles, workstations and furniture. Erlandson said interior decorating is something she’s never been able to prioritize, but she’s most excited about the changes to the lobby, which she felt was not a welcoming environment.

“It really was this just horrible wooden counter,” she said. “And then, during COVID, we couldn’t even get plexiglass so we had this plastic screen that was so ugly. I hated it for three years.”

St. Margaret’s helps more than 10,000 low-income and homeless clients each year with critical services ranging from free food to support services. Eighty-five percent are communities of color.

“For those who are minimum-wage workers or on fixed income, it’s just been harder and harder to get by,” Erlandson said.

James Bates has lived in the area since the late 1960s and said he has five grandkids living with him at home.

“I think it’s one of the most wonderful places you can go if you’re in need of just about anything, especially food,” he said.

The food pantry serves about 40 families per day and relies on volunteers to distribute it.

Bates said he also depends on St. Margaret’s to help him find a doctor a knee replacement and occasionally fax documents.

“To be able to respond to those needs, it’s the best work there is,” Erlandson said.