Resource center aids Templeton families

Stacey Hollars was in trouble. Drugs held down her life, and she was forced to resort to prostitution for money. She didn't have the tolerance to deal with four children -- until she came to the Shalom Family Resource Center.\n"This place has given me a lot of patience," Hollars said. "I've never devoted this much time to (my children)." \nThe Shalom Family Resource Center has helped families like Hollars' by offering free meals, diapers and other supplies to families with little or no income, as well as parenting and General Education Degree classes. \nThe center is funded by a Lilly Endowment grant for Monroe County called CAPE. The grant also funds four other family resource centers in Monroe County, including the Shalom Community Center, where the family resource centers started.\n"As the SCC grew, they knew they wanted to have space that was more family-oriented," said Linda Patton, SFRC director. \nWith the grant, four family centers were able to open, each working in conjunction with a different school to prepare children up to 4 years old for elementary school, but the SFRC specifically works with Templeton Elementary School families.\nBy preparing the children and working with parents, Patton said she believes the SFRC is doing the community a service.\n"If our families are stronger, our communities are stronger," Patton said.\nThe center also offers IU students, such as those in the School of Social Work, volunteer and internship opportunities, and gives people with various incomes around Monroe County a second home, Patton said.\n"Over the years, people that live in poverty have claimed it as a place to be," Patton said.\nLike the SCC, the SFRC has become a place for parents to go when they have questions or need help.\n"It's expensive to be a parent, so we provide free, fun activities for families to do," Patton said. \nThe centers also employ IU students like junior Phil Shelton, who works as one of 18 "Advocates for Community Engagement" for the SCC in preparation for medical school.\n"Doing service work provides me with an experience that I don't learn in the classroom," Shelton said.\nHe manages volunteer orientations, answers the phone or works in the kitchen serving those who come to the SCC for aid. But Shelton gets more out of his work than just a paycheck.\n"Coming in here on a daily basis and knowing that there are hundreds of people receiving assistance ... it's definitely rewarding to know that the work I'm doing contributes to that," Shelton said. \nHollars is appreciative of the volunteers and workers like Shelton and Patton who have helped her family. \n"It's good to have these people to talk to when you don't know what you're doing," Hollars said. "If more people knew about it, it would be so much better."\nStudents looking for more information about SCC or the SFRC can contact Pam Kinnaman at kinnaman@bloomington.in.us or Linda Patton at shalomfrc@yahoo.com.\n-- Contact staff writer Catherine Hageman at chageman@indiana.edu.