What is our philosophy?

• We believe that healthy families are the foundation of a healthy society.
• We believe that all children deserve to have healthy families who will support, educate, nurture, protect and encourage them.
• We believe that an entire community is responsible for lifting up and supporting its members for the betterment of all.

What is our story?

The plan for the Family Resource Center was conceived in September of 2005 when founder, Karen Torres, attended an educational forum about supervised parenting time. Karen had been a child protection caseworker for 18 years. many times she had supervised the contact between children and the parent or parents who had been separated because the parent had harmed the child in some way.  It became clear that the point at which contact is reinstated is a golden opportunity for the child and parent to experience a changed relationship.  Supervised settings provide a controlled environment, rules for the parent that are designed to maintain safety from emotional and physical harm. and quality toys which enable children to express emotions through play.   

Although there were excellent models of visitation and safe exchange programs across the state, there were none in rural, northeast Colorado. Some children, whose divorced parents were in a high conflict relationship, but not involved with Social Services, had no avenue for contact with their non-custodial parent.  The children were caught in the middle, but wanted to continue the relationship with their non-custodial parent  The risk was high that they would be exposed to tense and sometimes violent outbursts if they were in the presence of both parents, while being exchanged for visiting purposes.  In some cases the court ordered that the children be exchanged at a place and time that is supervised by a third party.  If relatives were not willing to be that third party, no options existed but places like the police department, Walmart parking lot or McDonalds.   If no suitable alternative was available, the child was denied contact. 

Karen continued to work full time as a caseworker, while applying for grants to establish a program to serve these children. In March of 2006 a pilot program was created through an alliance with the First Presbyterian Church of Sterling, Colorado and funding from the Justice Department of Colorado. During the next year Karen discovered that additional services were needed to help strengthen families. The supervised parenting time program (which had been named Hand in Hand) was doing well, but it was difficult to transport supplies and to schedule space shared with a church while trying to provide flexible hours to meet the needs of families.  Office space and a dedicated visitation room was needed.

By collaborating with four other organizations, the parenting time program secured a location, secured non-profit status and named the program Family Resource Center. The mission was broadened to encompass other needed services that were absent in the community. Shared expenses, shared projects and a central location for dissemination of resource information were some of the benefits of this collaboration. September of 2006 was the launch date of this new adventure!

The collaborating organizations learned a great deal about co-managing a building. There were monthly directors' meetings to discuss building issues.  An MOU was developed to address confidentiality, how and when rent is to be paid, how utilities are divided etc. In September of 2007 Family Resource Center, one of the tenant programs plus two outside programs co-sponsored a domestic violence conference, which drew 150 + participants. In October of 2007 the Family Resource Center and Rural Solutions collaborated to launch programs that support and educate fathers. The Family Resource Center's program was named Dads 4 Kids.  Dads 4 Kids was shaped through consultation with several Logan County fathers.  Rural Solutions developed programs for fathers across a 10 county region. 

In July of 2008 two of the four organizations moved to larger office spaces.  Each program was growing and we simply ran out of space.  We parted with sadness, but celebrate the success of each program.  Family Resource Center lost a part time visit supervisor in August of 2008. In January of 2009 a full time employee, Cheryl Walraven, was hired to help  supervise visitation, develop a group for young fathers and to develop a mentor program.  In January of 2009 a program called Game Plan for Success was patterned after a similar program in Denver called Colorado Youth at  Risk.  In Game Plan for Success adult "coaches" from the community are recruited to encourage students, who are facing challenges that impede their progress toward high school graduation and fullfulling their goals.  

Where are we going?

• We desire to be a helpful community partner to public agencies that serve children and families in Logan County.
• We desire to be a community based contact for families who are looking for local resources to keep their family strong.
• We desire to develop additional programs that will strengthen families in Logan County.
• We desire to be a catalyst to encourage collaborations by other organizations in the community, for the benefit of families.

Contact us here: thefamilyresourcecenter@yahoo.com

The Family Resource Center is located at 631 W Main St., Sterling, Colorado 80751. Our phone number is 970-526-2439 or our cell phone number is 970-520-2939.  Follow us on Facebook and Twitter (@familyrc2)