The conference room was abuzz Tuesday afternoon as community leaders, service providers and local residents gathered to celebrate the grand opening of Carver County’s new Family Resource Center (FRC).
Located in shared space with the Chaska Moravian Church at 115 East Fourth Street, the center offers families the support they need to navigate programs and services that can help them thrive.
As the time approached to cut the ribbon signifying the official opening of the center, “A Better Society” co-founder and FRC steering committee member Khai Tran told the crowd that the center was a long time in coming.
“For 15 years, many of us have been dreaming about a place just like this — somewhere families in Carver County can come, feel supported, get connected and know they’re not on their own,” he said. “This center represents what can happen when people come together with a shared vision. In partnership with Carver County and a wide network of nonprofit organizations, we’ve created something truly meaningful.”
The public-private partnership proves that no single organization can meet every need, Khai Tran said, but together they can “create pathways, remove barriers and build connections that strengthen the entire community.”
He explained that families can access the FRC and connect to multiple services, learn about what’s available in the community, and get help figuring out where to go next.
“The feeling that we’re in this together is really at the heart of why this center exists,” he added.
A Better Society co-founder and FRC steering committee member Heather Tran said the Family Resource Center concept has been around nationally for years but has recently caught on across Minnesota. Nearby Scott County’s FRC has been operating for about five years.
“They’re kind of the leader in the state of what a family resource center looks like,” she said.
Family Resource Centers are built around five “protective factors” that help strengthen families and improve child well-being: parental resilience, social connections, knowledge of parenting and child development, concrete support in times of need, and emotional competence of children. If those factors are addressed, parents are better able to cope with stress, trauma and other risks in their lives, and children benefit.
“If we’re able to wrap them around with services, we’re going to reduce the rate of kids being in child protective services,” Heather Tran explained.
A wide range of help is available to families and individuals through the FRC, including housing assistance, CareerForce job search help, parent training, Spanish-language and East African-language navigation support, Early Childhood and Family Education access, SNAP and CASH sign-up assistance, financial counseling through University of Minnesota Extension, Community Resource Center help, health and mental health support and more.
“We’re not trying to replicate anything that is already existing,” Heather Tran said. “We’re trying to help families navigate the system, and figure out their next best step. That’s really the ultimate goal.”
Kate Probert Fagundes, deputy director at Carver County Health & Human Services, applied for a Sauer Family Foundation grant to help launch the new center.
“There’s a huge need for this in Carver County,” Probert Fagundes said. “The Resource Center model has been adopted by 42 states as a way to really invest and work with the community toward preventive services.”
After considering dozens of possible locations for the center, the Chaska Moravian Church offered space to house the program.
According to Heather Tran, the Moravian Church was the perfect partner because the congregation already is very involved in ministries that help county residents.
“They already do a lot helping with housing, homelessness and food support,” Heather Tran said. “They were the right match for us.”
The Carver County Family Resource Center is open three days a week: Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and Thursdays from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.
To learn more, visit carvercountyfrc.org. The website provides a calendar indicating what helping agencies or nonprofits will be onsite at what times to help families.
Probert Fagundes noted that the Chaska FRC site is just the first phase in the county-wide program. The organization hopes to expand to sites in other Carver County communities in the future.
