State Farm’s Good Neighbor – Family Resource Center
Where would you go if you and your family were in crisis? If you were struggling with food insecurities, or you were a new parent who was at their wits end trying to figure out how to care for your children? Maybe, you are starting out on your own after a difficult time and you have never had to learn how to open a bank account, pay bills, create and manage a budget. You could be a grandparent who is now raising your grandchild and you are struggling to pay for childcare, or having difficulty navigating the new mine fields of raising children in today’s technologic era.
At Family Resource Center of Northeastern Nevada you can find answers to all of these issues and so much more. The center located at 331 7th St. in Elko has been serving our communities needs for over thirty two years. Family Resource Centers across the country were created as a result of the need for States to be able to disburse federal dollars for local community initiatives and programs. Each center in the country operates a little differently based on the funding resources allocated to that center. The centers are bound by the restraints of implementing state driven initiatives, therefore from year to year the programs implemented may differ slightly.
The Family Resource Center of Northeastern Nevada is directed by Judy Andréson who has been with Family Resource Center for 5 ½ years. Under her supervision the center runs multiple programs to support Elko County and other northeastern Nevada counties. According to Judy the focus of Family Resource Center is to, “Help people live the best life they can.” This looks different for each individual, and the path to becoming self-sufficient is also different for each person.
The programs at FRC to help families and individuals reach their goals are wide spread. Their hunger program helps people with food insecurities be able to consistently eat healthy and fulfilling meals. They provide families and individuals with nutritious foods while also teaching them healthy preparation techniques. This gives everyone the skills they need to become self-sustaining in the future.
Through their Women, Infants, and Children program, or WIC as it is most commonly referred to, they are also able to provide nutrition education, food support, and breast feeding education. On staff the center has a Certified Lactation Educator, and a Nutritionist to support individual client success. They also provide education to parents and grandparents in need of help. They provide parenting classes for each developmental stage, infants and toddlers, young children, and adolescents and teens. There is individualized education for every type of family, step-families, divorced parents, grandparents as parents, and even classes for parents who want to help their children achieve academic success. The center also has a teen health education program. This program is medically accurate and evidence based. It gets teens involved with learning how to negotiate and practice refusal skills, reduce teen pregnancy and STDs, and how to deal with peer pressure. Students who go through the program receive a free backpack full of school supplies or a gift card. This program is conducted throughout six counties in Northern Nevada.
The last program the center offers is for childcare reimbursement for grandparents over the age of 55 raising grandchildren. This is often a time in life where individuals expect to be done raising children, and are beginning to live on a fixed retirement income. The center helps support these individuals through not only education from the other programs but also with the monetary support to be able to be away from the home to create more income for the family or take a brief break from childrearing responsibilities.
Aside from the amazing work they do themselves the center is also an amazing advocate for other providers with in our communities. They have a comprehensive list of the other service providers in our area for any situation that arises. If they do not have a program to fit the needs of the family or individual they know exactly who to get each person in contact with. This mitigates the frustration a person in crisis may feel when they need help but are pointed in the wrong direction for that help. The knowledgeable staff at Family Resource Center will have an answer for where the person should go to get the help they need.
The center does receive grant monies for the direct services that they provide, but this amount becomes less and less each year. They would not be able to do any of the work that they do without community support. It is through donors and support of the fundraisers the center does each year that keeps their doors open to help the individuals in need. The center receives funds from Newmont Legacy Fund each year. Through this program Newmont employees are able to donate to the center with a dollar-for-dollar company match. The center also works hard to raise money on their own. They rent office space and a space for meetings, parties, or other gatherings to the public in order to create revenue. They also sell survival kits. You can stop at the center and purchase a survival kit to keep in your car, backpack, or home for $25.00. This is all in addition to their annual Puppy Love 5k held yearly in September. The 5k is approaching its 4th year and each year has been better than the last. It is a great event where you can get out and run/walk with your dog, or on your own. It is a ton of fun every year.
The Family Resource Center does so much for our many people in our community. We would like to thank them for their tireless work. They are not only Good Neighbors themselves, but they also provide others in our community with necessary life skills to become Good Neighbors as well. If you would like to help support the Family Resource Center you can do it in a variety of ways. You can mail a check to 331 7th St. Elko NV 89801, you can go to their website at www.elkofrc.org, through Smith’s food stores, PayPal, Ebay, The United Way (designate FRC as the recipient), or through Amazon Smile. Thank you again from all of us at Shabonya Dutton State Farm for helping those in need in our community find assistance and become knowledgeable, and as self-sustaining as possible.
If you have some one that you would like to nominate as a Good Neighbor please email kayla.ozman.waav@statefarm.com, call our office at 775.738.3423 or reach us through our Facebook page at Shabonya Dutton State Farm Agent.