ROCKINGHAM — A new Family Resource Center aimed at supporting students, families and the broader community officially opened Friday at Washington Street Elementary School, marking the campus as a full-service Community School.
The Eagle’s Branch Family Resource Center provides a dedicated space with supplies and services to help meet basic needs, including food, clothing, computers and internet access. The center also connects families with outside resources, such as job assistance and benefit enrollment.
“I’m so excited for you guys to be here on this day of opening of our very first, hopefully future, Family Resource Center. It’s name is the Eagle’s Branch,” said Kendra Faries, Community Schools coordinator.
“We’re hoping to be ongoing, supportive of family, community, students, [and] teachers in this area,” Faries said. “And we’re hoping that this will become something that really, really impacts the community and to be a resource for those and fill those gaps, what they need.”
Faries said the center is open to the entire community, not just students at the school.
“Teachers, community members, family, other agencies can come in and what we’ll do is we can provide not only good, clothing, but resources to other agencies as well. We’re gonna do programming, … after school program— not just for the students, but for the adults as well,” Faries said.
The space includes an area where parents or guardians can keep young children nearby while receiving assistance.
“Parents might need help with resume building. Or they might need someone to help them look for a job, they don’t know how to look for a job, so I break that connection and NC Works brings them to the table and we get something like this up and running for there,” said Faries.
“If I’m working one-on-one, daycare is usually an issue in our county, so I can put this little guy or a little girl here and I can work with mom and dad, and grandma, or whoever and then we can have these services available for them as some resources,” said Faries.
The center also houses supplies funded through multiple grants, including snack bins for Washington Street Elementary students.
“So when the teachers or students are identified that need a little extra for the day, they can come in and get these items specifically for them,” Faries said. “In the future, I’m hoping that you’ll see diapers, wipes, formula, car seats… whatever is identified in our survey, those are the things we will probably have in stock and readily available to those who need it.”
Faries said the center will accept gently used items and noted that clothing needs have been identified, such as leggings.
“We need leggings for them. The boys like the stretchy pants or the athletic pants,” said Faries. “Not necessarily the sweatpants, but the more athleisure pants.”
She added that future drives and partnerships may help supply additional items.
“We might even have some drives in the future when we try to get others in the community and even regional partnerships built that will provide some of those resources and some of these items that we might need,” Faries said.
The room includes amenities such as a washer and dryer to help maintain donated items.
“If someone donates items and maybe they’ve been sitting in a plastic bag for a while, we don’t want that to smell, right? So to make it easier, especially for maintenance, I have to give maintenance a whole lot of credit, they really transitioned this room from a classroom into what it is now,” Faries said.
Faries said she hopes the center will expand to include fresh produce and additional household goods.
“I’m hoping that we’ll have fresh fruit and vegetables for those who might need that little extra help for that. Of household items, hygiene products specifically, too. We’re trying to hit a little bit of all of the demands,” said Faries.
Within the next month, the center plans to establish a 12-member advisory board made up of teachers, families and community partners to help guide programming and funding priorities.
“What we’re gonna do is try to have some teachers on board, but also families and maybe even some partners to be on board,” said Faries. “That advisory board will determine what programming and where we’re gonna prioritize our funding for, and those needs and how we’re going to address those needs.”
Faries said surveys for families, teachers and students are already underway and will help shape future decisions.
“That’s a real big push right now because that’s going to determine what our needs are for next year and how we’re gonna spend our money,” said Faries. “That will help our advisory board determine how to prioritize.”
She added that focus groups may also be conducted, including with students in upper elementary grades with parental consent.
“That might be something that you might be interested in and if you have students here, to be part of that focus group as well, because we’ll do that with the students, third, fourth, and fifth [grade students] with consent. Parental consent is necessary,” said Faries.