Center Offers Support To Summit County Families In Need
FRISCO, Colo. (CBS4) - Summit County is a popular vacation spot for families but some of the families who call it home get some help from the Family and Intercultural Resource Center.
The center opened in the early 1990s to help those families.
"We all know up here, Summit County isn't an easy place to live," said Tamara Drangstveit, FIRC Executive Director. "It's very expensive and that causes a lot of stressers for families."
In 2012, FIRC served 3,500 families and individuals, including 1,800 hours mentoring parents at home and providing food and diapers to almost 1,800 families.
"The idea was that family resource centers would be one-stop shopping for everything a family needs," Drangstveit said.
Single mom Pierina Reyes has found the center invaluable.
"This is my first time being a mom and it's a new experience," Reyes said. "I didn't know anything like how to treat my son."
Reyes started signing up for programs with her son, Christopher, last year. Now they're getting help for everything from rent to scholarships to pay for Christopher's preschool.
"He's doing really well," Reyes said. "We are bilingual so it's really hard for him to try and speak in both languages."
The center also helped get Christopher into speech language.
"It's difficult because families have a lot of needs, but we really have tried to keep our programs focused on fundamental financial stability and parenting," said Drangstveit.
It's a focus the families in need are glad to rely on.
To make a donation visit summitfirc.org/FIRC/Donate.
