Our History
Serving Communities of Southeast Stanislaus County
Serving Communities of Southeast Stanislaus County
The Hughson Family Resource Center formally began June 29th, 2004 due to the work of a grass roots effort of community members, local agencies, churches, schools, and the city. At that time a newly formed Board of Directors was seated and bylaws were adopted. The Board of Directors consisted of Dan Aguilar, Jerry Ledermann, Tanya Nichols, Susan Rosenquist, Brian Sinclair, Rev. Ernie Spears, Maurice Saunders, Lorraine Cunningham, Dave Whiteside, and Lisa Whiteside. We opened a bank account with the first fundraiser money – the money we each had in our pockets that night which amounted to about $300.
A mission statement was adopted as well as a motto. Our mission statement is “To provide and coordinate resources and services through partnerships that enhance the health, education and well being of the communities we serve. Our motto is “Opening Doors, Providing Opportunities”.
Our next step was to develop a 2- year Strategic Plan. This plan was adopted after several months of meetings. The process of applying for our corporate status with the State of California was started as well as an application to the federal government for a 501 (c) 3 status that would give us our non-profit tax-exempt determination. By 2006 all our objectives of the strategic plan had been accomplished.
In the fall of 2004 a grant opportunity became available through the Community Services Agency and Children and Families Commission of Stanislaus County. This grant was to address the many child abuse referrals that come into the Child Protection Unit of the county. As county social workers went into the families home they could see that additional help may be needed to keep family life stable. This help might be in the form of food, clothing, and/or parenting skills. These basic resources could be provided by neighborhood community centers.
The grant proposal had many requirements the Hughson Family Resource Center could not fulfill. We had not yet received our non-profit determination letter from the government. We did not have a financial audit as we were only 5 months old. As the grant writing committee met they realized we needed a substantial partner to be our fiscal agent. We contacted Sierra Vista Child & Family Services and they were happy to partner with us to bring these neighborhood services to east Stanislaus County. Our service area includes the boundaries for 8 schools districts: Denair, Empire, Gratton, Hickman, Hughson, La Grange, Robert's Ferry and Waterford.
We did receive that grant and opened our doors on June 1, 2005 and began the process of hiring staff to administer services to the families in our communities.Services we provide under this grant include:
- Family support services
- Child development assessment for children aged 0 to 5 years old
- Parent education classes (in English and Spanish in several communities)
- Mental health depression screenings
- Family counseling
- Health outreach, car seat safety inspections and health insurance enrollment
- Food and clothing resources
- Stanislaus County Health Services Agency grant brings our area the “Healthy Birth Outcomes” program to encourage healthy pregnancy and birth for mother and child.
- Stanislaus County Community Services Agency grant addresses the need of abused children and family violence.
- Stanislaus County Children and Families Commission grant addresses family unity and parenting skills
- Kaiser Foundation grant to provide mental health counseling
- Bright Family Foundation funding to provide support services to families in need
- Hughson Unified School District funding provides ESL classes
- The California Endowment Foundation supports organizational capacity building
In addition to these grants and funded services the HFRC has independent community-based fundraising that supports a variety of community activities including:
-
Christmas Food Basket
- Dr. Seuss Night
- Community health fairs
- Community forums
The HFRC continues to grow because of powerful partnerships, generous individuals, businesses and organizations and the visionary leaders in our community. Thanks to all of you!
