Editor’s note: A version of this story appears in this week’s print edition of the Norwood News. Today, Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan is visiting POTS to officially bless the building for the Catholic Church.

After all the politicians, reporters and board members had left the grand opening of its sparkling new building on Webster Avenue, Part of the Solution, known as POTS, quickly got back down to business.

For POTS, a nonprofit organization that started 30 years ago as a soup kitchen and has since blossomed into a multi-service center offering everything from hair cuts to legal advice, that means putting food on the table and serving those in need. It was almost noon. Lunch was about to begin.

Bright-eyed high schoolers shuffled in to volunteer and friendly staffers, some of them former clients and volunteers, put them to work.

Though food wouldn’t be served for another half hour, a line 30-deep had already formed outside of POTS’ new building near the corner of East 197th Street. As it does almost every day, POTS would go on to feed around 400 people.

Less than an hour earlier, Speaker Christine Quinn helped Wally Johns, a former POTS client who volunteers and hangs around the place so much he was dubbed the “mayor” of POTS, cut the ribbon on the organization’s new $8 million, 15,000-square-foot building.

The facility has been operational since the fall, but POTS waited until its 30th anniversary, Jan. 6, to officially open its doors. The delay also allowed the group to fill its vacant executive director position with former finance director Chris Bean, who had left POTS for about two months before returning in his new role. They announced his hiring at the ribbon cutting.

Sister Mary Alice Hannan, who stepped down as executive director last June, said she felt like a proud parent handing the organization over to Bean, who she credited with making sure the new building became a reality.

Bean said putting together the finances for the facility was like playing a game of Jenga, every little piece — from board member contributions to foundation funding to corporate money to government tax breaks — played a key role.

Their goal in creating the new building, Bean said, echoing Quinn and others who spoke, was not only to expand, but remove the stigma attached to reaching out for help. For example, in the smaller, former building, POTS handed out bags of groceries from its food pantry. Now, clients can come in and “self-select” what they need from a large, well-lit pantry area that looks like a supermarket. Bean said this simple change will help empower their clients.

The organization’s evolution still isn’t complete. In the near future, POTS plans to open a free medical clinic in its basement. And they’re still trying to figure out how to utilize the old building next door.

Back out in front of the building, Tammy Macy and Walter Velez, an unemployed married couple who had trekked to POTS from Crotona, about a 30-minute walk, were among those standing in line for lunch.

They had only recently discovered POTS and were happily returning after enjoying a hot meal of pork chops the previous day.

“I love this place,” Macy said, smiling. “All these programs, food, free showers, haircuts, a mail room.”

The couple said they were about to get evicted from their apartment and were eager to speak with one of POTS’ lawyers.

Despite their situation, they sounded optimistic and excited about the future.

“It’s a stepping stone,” Velez said about POTS, “a way to get our hopes up and a step in the right direction.”