June 10, 2021 at 1:12 p.m.
Family centers offer annual reports to Cass Board
Pillager Family Center has operated for over 21 years, according to Betty Doss, director.
They help parents with young children learn about growing stages and to improve their parenting skills. They offer a community playground; fax, telephone and copying services; and information and referral services.
Pillager food shelf served 239 unduplicated adults and 153 unduplicated children in 2014. Mothers and Children and Nutritional Assistance for Seniors programs operated through the family center.
Cass County services available at the family center include child and teen checkups, WIC clinics, financial workers, veterans services, family stabilization support and Rural Minnesota CEP. Space is available for meeting with county employees.
Pillager's center has a state-licensed preschool program and child care center. They offer home visits to moms, prenatal until their child reaches age 3.
Fun Stop is a before and after school program for children from kindergarten through fifth grade. It is open full days when school is not in session.
Love and logic is a parenting class focused on loving children, but expecting them to be respectful and responsible.
Tiffany Vickaryous directs the HOWA Family Center at Walker, which serves the Walker school district communities of Hackensack, Onigum, Walker and Akeley.
It has been open 18 years. Located adjacent to the elementary school, HOWA works closely with the school to help children and families succeed.
They manage the Kinship Partners program for individual adult and child matches, but also have a group program. They have Kinship buddies, too. An older child mentors a younger child.
HOWA sponsors community family events like Summer Splash.
The center offers safe visitation and child exchange to supervise parental visitations for divorced families.
HOWA is the only authorized provider for Parents Forever in Cass and Hubbard Counties. It is a parent education program the state requires divorcing parents to attend to obtain child custody or visitation rights.
The center provides snack packs to go when children do not have access to school meals and developed a healthy snacks recipe book. It has been distributed in the snack packs and at Walker Food Shelf.
HOWA provides winter wear and school supplies to children in need and gave emergency help to six families in the last year. Computer, fax, scan and email are available at HOWA.
The family center facilitates the clothing depot at the food shelf. HOWA offers a meeting space for community groups and individuals.
Leslie Bouchonville now oversees not only the Pine River, but also the Northland Family Center at Remer.
In Pine River, the food shelf is now located at the Family Center. An average of 500 people a month use the food shelf.
Pine River Family Center has served 18 area townships in addition to the city for 18 years.
That family center provides the home visitation for new months to 3-year-olds. It offers parent education classes and gives family support, including vouchers for gas, clothing, groceries, baby supplies and prescriptions.
MNsure navigators accepted 119 appointments at Pine River Family Center. A life skills class is provided for children attending Pine River-Backus alternative education program.
The family center partners with the Warehouse (a community center) and community education to offer a junior and senior high student program in the summer where meals are served. Ten elementary students were able to attend Camp Olson at Longville through the family center.
Wonderful Wednesdays is a summer preschool program for 3 to 5 year olds. Child and teen checkups are at the family center. Snack packs are provided to children for non-school days.
Working Together Coalition, begun in Pine River and now expanded to the Walker school district, helps children of all ages say "no" to smoking, drugs and alcohol.
Pine River Family Center helps host the Week of the Young Child and Christmas for Kids programs, offers income tax filing services and collaborates with the Radiothon to End Child Abuse.
The family center opens space for community groups and individuals and serves as a location for people to connect with county services.
A total of 118 volunteers provided 3,201 hours of service to that family center's programs in 2014.
Northland Family Center at Remer serves the Longville-Remer area.
They have a preschool program, offered two family fun nights in 2014, provided a summer arts camp and hosted child and teen health checkups.
Northland offers a variety of family support services.
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