Montclair opens Family Resource Center
MONTCLAIR - The city and Ontario-Montclair School District are leaning on each other to provide services for children and families of the community.
By next month, the city's Family Resource Center - at 9916 Central Ave. - will finally open its doors to provide families who are experiencing issues related to poverty, stress, social isolation and trauma with resources in mental health and wellness.
"This center, even through it's in Montclair, will eventually help the entire region," said Kelsey De Forge, Montclair's resource analyst.
By next month, the city's Family Resource Center - at 9916 Central Ave. - will finally open its doors to provide families who are experiencing issues related to poverty, stress, social isolation and trauma with resources in mental health and wellness.
"This center, even through it's in Montclair, will eventually help the entire region," said Kelsey De Forge, Montclair's resource analyst.
First 5 San Bernardino awarded the city and the Montclair Community Collaborative a $385,836 grant over three years to provide case management services for families with children up to 5 years old. The Mental Health Services Act will provide the school district with a $1.2 million grant for three years to provide resources for students.
San Bernardino County's Department of Behavioral Health and First 5 will provide staffing both at the center and activities in the community. House of Ruth, Bilingual Family Counseling Services, West End Family Counseling, and many other agencies will help provide services at the site and throughout the community, according to the center's fact sheet.
Services will be offered in mental health education, youth programs, parent education, nutrition classes, community counseling, and case management.
The Family Resource Center will serve children of the Ontario-Montclair School District, youth 16-25 years old, single adults, families, and older adults, according to the center's fact sheet.
"Economic stress on families is huge and when that intensity and anxiety is heightened, the kids start to feel it and family stress gets kids stressed," said Bonnie Mooney, OMSD's coordinator for community and health services.
What makes the center special is that it's in a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, 1,311-square-foot home.
The house used to be the location for the city's Neighborhood Partnership Program of Montclair, which began in 1996 to provide small grants and loans for low income homeowners for home improvements, De Forge said.
That program began to outgrow the house and decided to expanded in to serve other cities. It relocated to Ontario in 2006 and is now called the Neighborhood Partnership Housing Services, De Forge said.
The city's redevelopment agency stepped in to purchase the house for $300,000 and most recently spent an addition $100,000 to make improvements, De Forge said.
"I think what's great about this place is that it's welcoming, and homey," De Forge said. "It's not a place where families or students will feel intimidated, and it doesn't feel like a office or a stale environment."
Last Monday, the center hosted a soft opening for school and city officials. De Forge said the Family Resource Center is scheduled to be open to the public mid-April.
"The Family Resource Center will undoubtedly take its rightful place in the history of this house as a place for those in need," she said. Family Resource Center in Montclair will open to the public in mid-April and will be open from about 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. five days a week.
Information: 909-418-6428.
San Bernardino County's Department of Behavioral Health and First 5 will provide staffing both at the center and activities in the community. House of Ruth, Bilingual Family Counseling Services, West End Family Counseling, and many other agencies will help provide services at the site and throughout the community, according to the center's fact sheet.
Services will be offered in mental health education, youth programs, parent education, nutrition classes, community counseling, and case management.
The Family Resource Center will serve children of the Ontario-Montclair School District, youth 16-25 years old, single adults, families, and older adults, according to the center's fact sheet.
"Economic stress on families is huge and when that intensity and anxiety is heightened, the kids start to feel it and family stress gets kids stressed," said Bonnie Mooney, OMSD's coordinator for community and health services.
What makes the center special is that it's in a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, 1,311-square-foot home.
The house used to be the location for the city's Neighborhood Partnership Program of Montclair, which began in 1996 to provide small grants and loans for low income homeowners for home improvements, De Forge said.
That program began to outgrow the house and decided to expanded in to serve other cities. It relocated to Ontario in 2006 and is now called the Neighborhood Partnership Housing Services, De Forge said.
The city's redevelopment agency stepped in to purchase the house for $300,000 and most recently spent an addition $100,000 to make improvements, De Forge said.
"I think what's great about this place is that it's welcoming, and homey," De Forge said. "It's not a place where families or students will feel intimidated, and it doesn't feel like a office or a stale environment."
Last Monday, the center hosted a soft opening for school and city officials. De Forge said the Family Resource Center is scheduled to be open to the public mid-April.
"The Family Resource Center will undoubtedly take its rightful place in the history of this house as a place for those in need," she said. Family Resource Center in Montclair will open to the public in mid-April and will be open from about 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. five days a week.
Information: 909-418-6428.
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