ATHOL — The North Quabbin PATCH and Family Resource Center is settling into its new home at 109 Lumber Street.
The move from 423 Main St. to the second floor of the former offices of the Cass Toy Company happened in early December, and Executive Director Kena Vescovi said, “We moved into that (Main Street) space back in 2003, and we’ve grown and changed since then. We were aware that this building would potentially be renovated, if there were people interested in leasing space, so I got in contact with the owner. So, we’ve worked on this for about a year and a half as they renovated the space, and then we did our own build-out in order to make the space fit our needs. We needed to have space that fits who we are today. It’s definitely designed now to meet all of our needs.”
Vescovi said the old space was a storefront in which the center used dividers to create offices. She said it did not provide the space PATCH needed. She said the new facility offers more privacy and larger space for the many programs it offers.
Bett Jenks, PATCH coordinator and Family Resource Center manager, said, “I also think the appearance is really important. Over the years, the site we occupied on Main Street got more and more run down. You want people to feel good when they come into a space, you want them to feel comfortable and welcome. And if you’re bringing your child here for an activity you want it to feel nice and pleasant. In the old place the play space was wide open. This is more intimate with walls and a door that can close, a place where they can feel safe.”
“There is a DCF (state Dept. of Children and Families) unit that partners with us, and they do come here to do visits with families that are not now living together with their children,” said Jenks. “And, this space provides privacy for them, and an opportunity for the children to have a nice play area. It gives them a place to meet in a nice environment.”
Despite growing exponentially since its founding, Vescovi said the group’s mission remains essentially the same.
“Our mission always will remain the same,” she said. “Valuing Our Children is sort of the umbrella agency. The PATCH and Family Resource Center is a program under that. So, I wouldn’t say much has changed. We’re made up of friendly, non-judgmental staff who can work with a strength-base perspective with our families, and that’s always how we’ve approached our work. Our mission is to prevent child abuse and neglect and strengthen families, which then strengthens the whole community.”
“As we have grown, we have really enhanced the amount of support we can provide our families in the community,” Vescovi said. “We’re pretty unique compared to other providers, because there’s no criteria you have to meet to come to us. Your income doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if you have health insurance. If somebody walks through the door, we’re going to find a way to meet their needs. That’s why I feel we’re so unique; we’re the place that people know they can come, and we’re not going to say, ‘You don’t fit the criteria to be here.’”
While the PATCH and FRC offer a wide array of services, one program that has attracted increasing interest in recent years is the grandparents support group.
“Many of them struggle with ‘how do I help raise my grandchild and still take care of my child who’s hurting themselves?’” said Jenks. “The number of grandparents now taking care of the grandchildren is huge, just huge. We had a great-grandmother who was in her 80s come up here from the Cape to take her great-grandchildren. Many of them who are taking care of their grandchildren just can’t do it without some help — and that’s what we provide.”
Jenks said the reason for more grandparents becoming the main providers for their grandchildren “is directly related to the opioid crisis.” She said many parents find themselves either incarcerated or, because of their addiction, simply incapable of caring for their children.
The group also provides support groups for parents, fathers and teens, as well as early childhood programming, parenting classes, developmental screening and a wide array of other services.
For more information call 978-249-5070 or visit: www.valuingourchildren.org