This nonprofit’s new $6.4 million west Charlotte HQ expansion will include a museum

Non-profit Samaritan’s Feet International closed a deal on its headquarters in west Charlotte recently, finding a permanent home for its expanded operations.

For 18 years, the organization has delivered shoes to children around the world who couldn’t afford them.

The construction of a more than 74,000-square-foot building has started at 4808 Chesapeake Drive. The organization purchased the property, which occupies more than 15 acres, for $6.4 million through a capital campaign.

The new headquarters will triple the size of the group’s current space.

Co-founder Manny Ohonme is planning for a grand opening on Sept. 30.

The construction will be a multi-phase process, he said, with the first phase including the organization’s main offices, a warehouse, volunteer engagement space, and an interactive museum. In the future, the organization plans to open up about 25,000 square feet of rental space as well as a leadership academy.

The headquarters is built with a special focus on educational experiences, Ohonme said.

The interactive museum named “ShoeZeum”, for example, will tell the stories of shoeless individuals around the world, so that visitors can understand the impact of barefoot-related illness.

Visitors are also able to learn about notable individuals who engaged with Samaritan’s Feet.

The leadership academy will bring the organization’s philosophy to interested entrepreneurs and charity leaders, Ohonme added.

“We want to be able to serve as a great resource,” he said, pointing out that he didn’t have access to similar resources when he started the organization. As a result, he wants to provide the playbook for people who are doing similar nonprofit work to be successful.

Sanford Health, a non-profit health care delivery system based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, donated $5 million towards Samaritan’s Feet’s campaign, Ohonme said. The organizations partnered in developing a biodegradable shoe that protects the feet from injury and infection.

Home in Charlotte

Charlotte has been the home for Samaritan’s Feet since its 2003 founding. Most recently, the organization’s operation was in a rental space at Coffey Creek Business Center at 1836 Center Creek Drive.

Ohonme said the organization chose to stay in Charlotte for the city’s philanthropy scene and accessible transportation.

Samaritan’s Feet sends volunteers all over the world, and the fact that Charlotte is one of the major hubs for American Airlines makes the choice to remain in the city obvious, he said. In the past eight years, Samaritan’s Feet has had over 98,000 volunteers around the globe, according to the organization.

And the organization’s future headquarters is in a west Charlotte corridor that is part of the city’s Opportunity Zones, part of a 2018 federal program that provides tax breaks for investors in order to pump money into low-income neighborhoods and spur development.

“We want to be part of the future development of that area,” Ohonme said.

(Samaritan’s Feet is not affiliated with Samaritan’s Purse, a Boone-based Christian organization led by Franklin Graham.)

Widespread ‘foot‘print

Ohonme recognized how much hope a pair of shoes could give to a kid when he received his first pair of shoes as a 9-year-old boy in Nigeria.

He founded Samaritan’s Feet with his wife, Tracie Ohonme. The organization has sent over 8 million pairs of shoes to 108 countries and 450 U.S. cities, according to its website.

In 2008, the Observer reported on Ohonme’s shoeless walk from Charlotte to Atlanta. He wanted to raise awareness and funds for needy children across the world.

In 2011, then-Burundi president Pierre Nkurunziza visited Charlotte upon Ohonme’s invitation, and attended events that served as fundraisers for the organization.

Many don’t realize that shoes are one of the top five things children need in school, and are among the top concerns with which the homeless population struggle with, Ohonme said.

In addition, he said the coronavirus pandemic put greater financial burden on a majority of the population who could not afford shoes. “We can... lighten the load a little bit for grandparents and parents to help the kids,” he said.

Samaritan’s Feet has partnered with Title I schools — schools with high percentage of students from low-income background — and homeless shelters across the country to make sure that students, refugees and veterans who need help could access shoes.

It also started a senior program that provides footwear for resistance, which is essential for the aging population with special needs, Ohonme said.

Internationally, Samaritan’s Feet has eight affiliate offices, including in South Africa, Peru and Hong Kong.

“If you think about how widespread our footprint is,” Ohonme said, “now we are able to have one place where we can train (staff) and bring the world to us.”

Correction: The cost of the project has been updated to reflect the most recent numbers from Samaritan’s Feet

This story was originally published July 15, 2021 at 1:57 PM.