CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Low-cost housing still another ?option for Family Services Center site

Charlotte Sun - 7/19/2017

MURDOCK — A community group is recommending the Charlotte County Family Services Center be razed and relocated to another site in Parkside, making room for market-rate housing.

Together Charlotte representatives — a collaborative coalition of more than 60 community leaders from local businesses, government and community organizations — said the facility should be demolished due to its deteriorating condition, but should be re-established in the same community, where there is a high demand for service.

The task force also suggested that, if the county-owned site becomes available, a multifamily development should be built in response to the urgent need for low-priced housing.

“This is really one of the more important decisions that came up as part of the sales tax proposal,” said Tom Rice, task force member and former CEO of Fawcett Memorial Hospital. “This is more complicated than just deciding what to do with the building.”

The original 1 percent sales tax proposal in 2014 called for a $7.1 million remodeling and expansion of the FSC at 21450 Gibralter Drive, in Port Charlotte. Since then, the county purchased Peace Lutheran Church next door, further expanding the footprint as well as its redevelopment possibilities.

The Family Services Center now houses nine different agencies that provide vital health and human services, including the Boys & Girls Clubs of Charlotte County, which has its headquarters and children’s activities on-site. But the current 28,000-square-foot facility is showing its age and county officials determined the newly acquired church complex, originally built in the 1950s, is in poor condition and must be torn down.

That would leave a sizable, 6-acre parcel upon which to build. It is anticipated that to make such a housing project viable, however, zoning would have to be changed to allow up to 15 multifamily units per acre.

The Family Services Center, established in the aftermath of the Hurricane Charley disaster, remains on the front lines in providing vital services, but is in need of a makeover.

“Here we are 12 years later. Things have changed,” Rice said. “What we are doing now is not meeting the needs, or the definition, of a Family Services Center.”

United Way Executive Director Carrie Blackwell Hussey said the needs in Charlotte County are great, with 40 percent of residents considered “financially unstable.” And Parkside is the epicenter of need.

A recent survey of more than 500 residents, conducted by the First Alliance Church, found the neighborhood suffers from high poverty and unemployment and a lack of transportation, access to health care, and legal and mental health services. Hussey said the current model to address these needs is “simply ineffective.”

The goal of Together Charlotte is to develop a framework so the existing network of providers will provide better service through an enhanced integrated approach, shared communication, public-private partnerships and better medical outcomes.

“This is a golden moment to create a community resource that provides a measurable return on investment and becomes a flagship initiative, not only for our county but for our region,” she said.

Hussey said her group will be doing a further “operational assessment” over the next six months to determine what services should be offered at the FSC, during which time county can begin to look at alternative sites for the Family Services Center.

Having the facility in Parkside is key to serving its economically disadvantaged residents, she said.

Faezeh Andrews, information and referral supervisor for Charlotte 211, the community service call center, said data shows that 30 percent of the calls received countywide come from Parkside.

“There seems to be the highest needs in that area,” Andrews said.

Commissioner Chris Constance said that, if inexpensive housing comes to Parkside, it should include accommodations for Western Michigan University students as the new aviation program takes flight this fall.

He also said West County should not be ignored and that decentralizing services with multiple locations may be needed, such as in the new West County annex, which is under construction and expected to be completed in the fall of next year.

“West County has a very large population. I don’t want to forget about them,” he said.

Email: groberts@sun-herald.com