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