Nonprofits make inroads in effort to support families

Wichita Falls Times Record News - 2/26/2017

Feb. 26--Wichita Falls nonprofits turned their attention to families in 2016, with new players and programs working to provide support and resources for mom, dad and the kids.

The Wichita Falls Public Library rolled out its Family Place Library concept, designed to make the downtown library a one-stop shop for information about services available to families. The Family Place Library area provides educational play stations to entertain little ones while parents peruse brochures and talk to community experts during Play with Purpose Workshops focusing on early literacy, speech, nutrition, music and play activities that promote child development. Parents learn how to interact with their children through play to teach specific skills.

Over at Interfaith Outreach Services (formerly Interfaith Ministries), a new program is providing one of the more expensive items needed by new parents, diapers. The Diaper Chest, housed at Interfaith Outreach Center, grew out of a program founded by Wichitan Leigh Anne Hope to provide baby supplies for needy mothers. Since finding a home at Interfaith, the Diaper Chest has earned regular support from college Greek organizations, women's groups and girls' organizations to keep its shelves stocked with diapers and wipes.

The North Texas Area United Way, meanwhile, dedicated a day in the fall to families, with the Fatherhood Fall Festival featuring pumpkin painting, bounce houses, food and storytelling for dads and kids. Activities like the festival add to existing family-friendly United Way programs providing help with income tax preparation and support for programs helping with child care.

The Wichita Falls Area Food Bank has found new volunteer partners for its Power Packs 4 Kids program, which sends school children from needy families home with food to carry them over during the weekends away from free meals provided at school. Church groups and other organizations provide the manpower to put together the power packs each week.

Another developing option for food is Floral Heights United Methodist's Church's new self-standing food pantry. Volunteers have operated a pantry in the church building since the 1979 tornado. But what started as an emergency relief effort has grown into a program that feeds more than 26,000 people per year, overwhelming the small space. A grant from Mueller Inc., a company that makes metal buildings, and a work crew from Mueller's Helping Hands erected the shell of the Floral Heights Community Food Pantry in one week in October. Fundraising to complete the interior is ongoing, with about half the $400,000 needed now in hand from foundation sources, food pantry board chairwoman Ronna Prickett said in late January. While the new pantry won't open until the interior is finished, Prickett said the board has also received an Opportunity Knocks grant from the Junior League to provide furnishings for the facility.

___

Visit the Times Record News (Wichita Fallas, Texas) at www.timesrecordnews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.