Owensboro families now have a central location where they can go to learn about assistance and programs available to them. The Center, located at the old Cigar Factory Mall on Walnut Street, held a check presentation ceremony for a $100,000 donation from Kosair Charities on Monday and allowed media groups to tour the new facility.
The Center, the Care for Children, Inc. will serve as a central resource “hub” for organizations serving families and children in Owensboro and Daviess County. The Center’s concept was developed from multiple community groups that recognized the need for co-location, genuine collaboration and effective communication between the organizations serving the community.
The Center also serves as a central access point for local resource information.
According to The Center’s Director Erica Wade, the organization will also support families with children currently experiencing out-of-home placement through the development of a “family visitation space,” giving parents and children a safe, neutral environment for supervised visitations.
While other organizations in the area have visitation sites available, The Center’s new space is bigger and better equipped to serve families of all sizes, Wade said.
“RiverValley & Affiliates also stepped up and gave financial contributions toward staffing for $40,000, and they did the build-out of our space — they contributed $33,000 for the build-out,” Wade said. “They’ve already got us up to $84,000 of our $100,000 match for the year.”
Wade said there’s two major reasons The Center is needed in Owensboro and Daviess County.
“To encourage collaboration, to encourage better service by working together — to really try and make improvements by working together,” she said. “On the other hand, for those seeking services, we’re going to really try to co-locate as much as possible so that it’s a one-stop shop, essentially.”
Aside from the family visitation center, The Center will open up with Family Fridays, starting in February.
“We’ll do a morning session and an afternoon session,” she said. “That’s using evidence-based curriculum to work on parenting skills for families.”
“Resource days” — The Center’s first step toward co-locating — will also be offered on the first and third Thursday of each month. Resource days will offer a set menu of services to clients, and all of the organizations in town will know they can send their clients to The Center, where the can access that whole service menu, Wade said.
“Everything from job training, housing information, education information, food access, health benefits — we’d have a tremendous response from our community,” Wade said.
Dr. Wanda Figueroa Peralta, President and CEO of RiverValley & Affiliates said The Center will help countless families and children. Abuse of children and family members often stems from financial and drug issues, and The Center will make it easier on families who need access to local resources.
“We have failed our children somehow,” she said. “The fact that Kentucky has the highest rate of child abuse in the nation — we are witnessing a crisis. We want to be part of the solution and work with other organizations and leaders like Erica. I want to be able to offer what we have at RiverValley, or what we should have, because that’s the point — always try to do better.”
