Our Story

The Moneta Center is the original Agape Center, formed in 2004 as a clothing distribution ministry, through Radford Baptist Church, with a focus on meeting clients’ practical and spiritual needs. This work quickly expanded to include food and household goods and outgrew the church’s available space.
 

After moving into a storefront location on Old Moneta Rd, Sue Lipscomb, head of Children’s Ministries at Radford Baptist, was asked to lead the growing program, and she focused on organizing logistics, creating a board of directors, and establishing the mentoring program as the center of the ministry.

The Agape Center continued to grow and was established as a 501c3  organization in June 2009. Additional supporting churches -- Eastlake Community Church, Dwelling Place, and Covenant Fellowship – were added, with Staunton Baptist joining as the fifth supporting church in 2012.
 

In 2012, earnest prayer began for a much-needed larger facility. Through numerous amazing provisions, the ministry purchased, renovated and relocated to the Promised Land Rd location. A furniture building was added in 2017 and a pole barn for storage in 2018. At every phase, the right people, with the right skills and the right equipment showed up at the right time – a story in itself of God’s plan.
 

Today, the Moneta Center continues to operate from the Promised Land Rd facility and directly serves over 600 families, including over 2000 individuals. Over 300 volunteers serve clients at the facility during the 10 open days per month, or behind the scenes, driving trucks for food and furniture pickup, cutting firewood, sorting donations, managing IT, and more.
 

In 2019, a second Agape Center ministry was added to the 501c3 organization in Lynchburg, followed in close succession by a center in Vinton/Roanoke and a fourth in the New River Valley. All these centers are now under the umbrella of Agape Center Corporation.