On Monday, a woman who had just moved from Texas with her family walked into the Community Family Enrichment Center in Arkadelphia, seeking information about the area.
“She brought her teenager in to take the driver’s test and she said, ‘I really don’t know anything about Arkadelphia,’” said Patricia Wright, executive director for the center. “She wanted to know about the services and what the needs are for the area.
“Of course, with her also having a young child, I told her we have a Head Start program here, and we also work with the Arkadelphia Public School System.”
Wright said the woman asked what other services she might be eligible for.
“So of course, we had to get into her income, and based on her income, there are quite a few services through the Department of Human Services,” Wright said.
This is just a small example of the services the Community Family Enrichment Center provides Arkadelphia and surrounding areas in Clark County, Wright said.
“Our overall umbrella is to provide case-management services,” Wright said. “Sometimes they are needing food, but they are also needing other services.
“They may be looking for housing, or they may be needing assistance and resources. Or they may need help filling out applications or to go online to get forms, or the use of a fax machine.”
The Community Family Enrichment Center, at 301 N. 23rd St., will celebrate its 20th anniversary from 4-6 p.m. Thursday.
“It is really just to thank the community for the support, for 20 years of serving Arkadelphia,” Wright said. “Might as well say Clark County because we do reach other areas as well.”
The center is asking for people to make a tax-deductible donation of $20 in honor of the anniversary. For more information, visit www.communityfamilyenrichmentcenter.weebly.com or call (870) 246-5675.
“Our center is a small nonprofit organization that provides support services to families and children with limited income and resources,” Wright said.
The building is host to a Central Arkansas Development Council Head Start program that serves approximately 66 3- and 4- year-olds.
“We also have a College of Ouachita Adult Education Program that provides GEDs and other services,” she said.
The center also has a community food pantry and is open twice a week.
“We work directly with the Arkansas Food Bank and the Arkansas Hunger Alliance to provide food for our families,” Wright said. “We also provide clothing and other items — we are kind of flexible.”
Wright said the center averages 250 to 300 families per month at the food bank.
“Clothing is just based on donations that we get from individuals and sometimes other organizations,” Wright said.
She said depending on the need and the donations received, the center is able to give out paper products, clothing and other things that may be available.
“Once a year, we do a large Thanksgiving basket for 500-plus families,” Wright said. “We partner with the Clark County Economic Development group on the third Thursday every month.
“We work jointly with them.”
Wright said the main purpose of the center is to inform people what resources are available and “how we can work with those families.”
“We work directly with CADC and other community agencies that have the same goals,” Wright said.
The center officially opened in July 1997 at 1700 Logan St. in Arkadelphia and moved to its current location, a 14,800-square-foot facility, in December 2000.
Wright said the biggest change in the 20 years since the center has been opened is the funding available.
“There is now limited funding for these social programs,” Wright said. “In the past, when we first opened, there was more funding available through the state, for family support programs, parenting classes and things that were just supporting the family.
“Of course, as each administration changes, it makes it harder to get funding for those programs that are still very much needed.”
Wright, who is the second of 12 children in her family, said she is also seeing more grandparents raising children.
“In the past, it wasn’t a big issue as it is now,” she said. “They are having to step up and provide resources.
“We tend to work with a lot of grandparents who have young children. We are also seeing an increase in the number of single-parent homes.”
Estella Forte, who serves on the board, said if it wasn’t for Wright’s vision, the center may not have ever come to be.
“During the time she was really starting to pursue this vision, she was living in
Kentucky,” Forte said. “She moved away for a while, but she didn’t lose the vision of doing something for the young people.
“There was nothing for them during the summer, and there were no programs for them at the time.
“[Wright] is a good person to delegate things, and we teamed up and started working together.”
The center also serves as a meeting place for several organizations, such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Girl Scouts, churches, and university groups such as sororities.
“We provide space for churches in terms of dinners, weddings and reunions,” Wright said. “We have a large multipurpose room in the building that helps generate income for the center.”
Wright retired from working in education on June 30.
“Understanding the importance of education, the importance of family and the variety of opportunities available — I think that’s what the whole thing was about,” Wright said.
Staff writer Sam Pierce can be reached at (501) 244-4314 or spierce@arkansasonline.com.