HomeMy WebLinkAboutOC Family Resource Centers report dated 3/8/1005 ORANGE COUNTY FAMILY RESOURCE CENTERS
8 March 1995
Board of Commissioners, County of Orange, North Carolina
Safe, accessible, neighborhood planned and run, focused on family strengths, driven by
local needs and goals,aimed toward constructive changes in family and community life,creating
new ways to make services available, Family Resource Centers in Orange County are getting
settled in their quarters and beginning to announce programs and services which grow out of
a partnership between families, thoughtful community leaders, and public and private agencies
and groups.
A brief history of this Orange County family resource development partnership can point
to beginnings in early collaboration which prepared the way for the Orange County Partnership
for Young Children (Smart Start Initiative). In January a year ago, HEARTH Family and
Community Resource Center, a fledgling non-profit committed to strengthening families and
communities, applied to the Partnership for Young Children for a planning grant to support
development of Family Resource Centers in the county. In April visits and needs assessment
began. In July the Orange County Partnership for Young Children convened a gathering of
agencies and groups committed to bettering the lives of children and families to explore a
response to North Carolina's Family Resource Center Initiative. In August, three communities
in Orange County asked HEARTH to work with them to establish Family Resource Centers in
their neighborhoods. With the collaboration of all major public agencies and a commitment of
matching funds from the Orange County Partnership for Young Children, HEARTH applied to
the North Carolina Department of Human Resources.In September the Governor announced that
the application for $75,000. was successful, and Orange joined 15 other counties in the North
Carolina Family Resource Centers Initiative.
Now, in the rural towns of Cedar Grove, Efland and Cheeks (in Northern Orange), and
in the low income neighborhood of Pine Knolls and the public housing community of Trinity
Court (both in Southern Orange, Chapel Hill), the dream of opening Family Resource Centers
has become a reality. In addition to Smart Start's matching funds, the initial list of 35 public and
private agencies who committed services and in-kind contributions has grown to 46.
This unprecedented county-wide support for Family Resource Centers is based on
understanding the need for a safe,accessible place where citizens can find and develop resources
and programs based on needs expressed by their own communities. Local Family Resource
Center Governing Boards are composed of at least 60% parents, with community leaders and
agency representatives the remaining percent. Staff in the Family Resource Centers are members
of the community or live nearby.
Each community is unique in its development of programs and services. In Cedar Grove,
where families are often isolated, services distant, and public transportation unavailable,
priorities have called for a family library; a warm line referral service; Saturday matinees; a
children's African dance class; GED, literacy, and job skills training; fatherhood and parenting
classes; medical screenings; and more. In Pine Knolls, some of the needs (around education, job
training, fathers' support groups and parenting classes) are repeated. Pine Knolls parents also
asked for community policing, afterschool programs, and family social events. In addition to
these needs,Trinity Court asked for children's tutoring and a community-based foster care home
for children whose parents are in drug rehabilitation programs.
Each center also has membership in a Coordinating Council, convened by HEARTH,
which meets monthly to share experience and learnings among the three diverse centers, to
discuss needs, and to plan next steps. HEARTH also operates a Family Resource Library, open
to families,teachers,caregivers, and other resource centers. Our time here is short;we invite you
to call with your questions and arrange a visit to see for yourself. Call Anne Maiden, HEARTH
Director of Family Resource and Research, 932-7041 or 933-9090. Parents and staff look forward
to talking further with you.