Ground was broken for a good cause Wednesday on St. Vincent de Paul North Idaho's Coeur d'Alene campus.

The nonprofit's leaders gathered to celebrate the start of construction of the future Father Bill Dining Hall. The updated facility will be named in honor of Father William C. Crowley, a former diocesan chancellor and pastor of St. Thomas Parish who passed away in April.

Father Roger LaChance of St. Pius X Church in Coeur d'Alene attended the groundbreaking. He grew up in Pocatello with Crowley and knew Crowley most of his life.

"Father Bill would be both humbled and proud to have this hall named in his honor," LaChance said.

The St. Vincent de Paul dining hall is currently housed in a small building with a kitchen smaller than most family kitchens. St. Vincent currently serves more than 1,000 meals a month from the undersized location, but is only able to serve meals to 15-20 clients at a time. With the new hall, it will be able to serve 60 people at a time.

The renovations will also add two full bathrooms with showers and laundry facilities for those in need. Currently the St. Vincent program Fresh Start on Sherman Avenue is where showers and laundry is offered. With the new expansion of the dining hall, the need for Fresh Start will diminish and it will close in late October.

"The problem was that Fresh Start is on east Sherman and all other services we offer are here at this location," Jeff Conroy, executive director of St. Vincent, said. "If we bring them (clients) here we can walk them right over to the H.E.L.P. Center and get them help."

The H.E.L.P. Center is located just two blocks from the dining hall on First Street and offers a place for the homeless and those in need to attain the services and assistance they may require to gain independence. Services available at the H.E.L.P. Center include Affordable Housing offices, Idaho Department of Veterans Services, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, mail service and a wide range of other services designed to help the community.

James Harris, St. Vincent dining hall manager and executive chef, said he expects the change to help enrich lives even more than the current efforts of St. Vincent.

"People will get new opportunities, a better hand up with a more stable platform," Harris said.

"Now they can go through the system more quickly and we can catch them before they fall through the cracks."

John Bruning, member of the board of directors of St. Vincent de Paul North Idaho, has been involved with the nonprofit since 1980. He said he believes many people find themselves in the position of need due to many factors including mental illness.

"I just see so much need here in Coeur d'Alene; we have a lot of homeless people," Bruning said. "Many are on the edge of homelessness due to debt, though I would say the main issue is mental illness."

Bruning said about 90 percent of their clients have some degree of mental illness.

"Be it medical debt, debt in general, substance abuse or mental illness, bad things happen to good people and we are here to give them a hand up," Bruning said. "That's what's important about what we are doing here - we are trying to keep dignity in it."

Chris Fritz, St. Vincent de Paul's board president, said the nonprofit will now turn to the community for support to finish paying for the project and fund future endeavors.

"I love St. Vinnie's. We're a family. It's about families helping families," Fritz said. "Its just a great asset to our community."