The Family and Community Resource Center: A Collaborative and Integrated Model for Building and Sustaining Community Wealth
LESM’s overarching goal is to help transform the lives of those we serve, so that they may become more healthy, hope-filled, secure, empowered, and interdependent. To accomplish this goal, we use a comprehensive and holistic case management approach with programs and services designed to…engage…educate...empower.
The organization’s recent experiences and lessons learned have helped to shape an emerging comprehensive and collaborative model for building and sustaining community wealth. This model is fueled by collaboration, case management and access to affordable housing, educational enrichment services and asset building initiatives.
The Mission of the (FCRC) Family and Community Resource Center will be to provide at-risk families and children access to integrated and coordinated services designated to mitigate the short and long term effects of poverty. The GOAL will be to help at-risk families and children identify access and acquire the skills, tools and resources needed to effectuate and sustain positive change in their lives and communities.
The FCRC will be comprised of a collaborative network of public and private agencies and programs, non-profit community based and faith-based organizations which share common values and offer services that address the multiple dimensions of poverty… educational achievement/attainment school drop-out, child care/parenting, distressed economy, job development/training economic security, affordable housing, drug addiction, crime, health and safety, childhood diseases/obesity.
By its very nature, the FCRC model for building family and community wealth building will address many of these issues. Based on the priorities of the community, services could include, but may not be limited to: building human capacity (e.g., educational enrichment services for children, education, training and technical/financial assistance for parents/adults; parent/community engagement initiatives; health and child care services); developing and accessing affordable housing (e.g., housing development projects, housing cooperatives and rental rehabilitation initiatives); and, building assets (e.g., credit repair, housing counseling, individual development accounts, micro enterprise development, social entrepreneurships and community collaborative/network projects, small business development, food trust).
Presently, we are working to expand the model in identified cities across the state of Mississippi.
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