Overview
Family Resource Center
The number one obstacle to success for schools in low-income neighborhoods is a high mobility rate. That is, the rate at which children move in and out of schools, usually due to the economic or vocational hardships of their parents. We are presently working to develop a Family Resource Center in the Northgate neighborhood with the goal of making families more stable and lower the mobility rate in those schools. This center will be a 'one stop shop' for families with needs, to help stabilize the community one family at a time. Families will visit this center to receive referrals for help with such things as rental assistance, healthcare, food programs, and many other issues.
The first steps include creating a network of community partners that can work with the schools in these neighborhoods to pool their resources to help families move toward self-sufficiency and true community. This involves a collaboration of local government, businesses, churches, and individuals to work with Austin ISD to make this a reality. Already, Austin ISD has partnered to establish two such Family Resource Centers at Webb Middle School and Reagan High School and is creating four new emergency centers at four Austin middle schools (Dobie, Mendez, Martin and Pearce). Our Executive Director, Dean Smith, was asked to create and direct one of those Family Resource Centers at Dobie Middle School. This is the perfect experience to lay the groundwork for a future Family Resource Center in the Northgate neighborhood.
