Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
Pocahontas County Family Resources Network moved last August into its new location at 709 Second Avenue in Marlinton and, since then, it has been getting back to offering the same community-oriented programming, as well as adding new programs to support families in the county.
Soon after taking the position of director in January 2024, Stacy Vandevander was facing the challenge of finding a new location for the FRN. While the organization looked for a new place, it operated out of the Harvest Hands Food Pantry, which was a bit cramped.
“I was working at home,” she said. “There was no way. We couldn’t all fit there and my job can be done at home; I’m kind of behind the scenes a little bit. We just muddled through that first year; almost a full year.”
Vandevander and members of the FRN board, mainly the late Roger Trusler, were on the lookout for a new location and when the house on Second Avenue was listed, it seemed perfect.
“We all met here and looked at it,” Vandevander said. “I think the day after it was listed. We all fell in love with it. We were already like, ‘that could be my office;’ ‘that could be the baby pantry.’”
It took two weeks to get everything in order all the paperwork signed. Then came the hard part – moving everything from the food pantry space to the new location.
“This has been a really big blessing,” Vandevander said.
The staff, which includes Becky Campbell, executive director of the Family Support Center; Rhonda Puffenbarger, case manager; and Anna Highland, community coordinator, got settled and have been working hard to get programs organized and the community acclimated to coming to the new location.
“We still have the food pantry,” Vandevander said. “That scheduling is normal. That’s usually every third Thursday of the month. We’re still doing that down there. All other programming – if it’s a large crowd, we try to get the Wellness Center and do programs there. Parks and Rec is wonderful to work with.
“If it’s a smaller crowd, we’ll do it here in the conference room or in the living area,” she added. “When you read what they want the FSCs [Family Support Centers] in the state to be, this matches the description way better because they want it to be where a family can come and feel like home.”
The two-story former home has a conference room and living area for programs, one office downstairs, a kitchen and storage space. Upstairs, there are three offices and the baby pantry.
For the baby pantry, new and expectant mothers can come to the center for a short parenting class and get the supplies they need on a monthly basis.
“The regulations have kind of changed around that and what the state wants to see us doing,” Vandevander explained. “They want it to be more of a parenting class, so we have switched to in-person where there is a schedule time that they come. It could be a twenty-minute presentation from someone in the community – maybe the WIC [Women, Infants and Children] office comes and helps them sign up for benefits; or maybe someone from DOHS [Department of Human Services] comes and helps them sign up for benefits.
“Or it could be someone coming and talking about immunizations – any of these parenting topics,” she continued. “It’s quick – you come, you sit through that, you get your certificate and then you get your diapers and wipes for the month – as well as the education that comes with the parenting class.”
Those classes and giveaways are once a month and Vandevander said that if the parents can’t make it due to work, it is possible to set up a Zoom meeting to complete the parenting session.
“We try to work with everyone,” she said. “We don’t want anyone to not be able to get what they need.”
The FRN collaborates with the Department of Rehabilitation for help individuals with learning or physical disabilities to develop job skills, connect them with mentors or tutoring.
“Rhonda does a wonderful job with our kids,” Vandevander said. “She’s really great. We couldn’t have found a better person for that position.”
There is also the Prevention Coalition which promotes living a healthy tobacco, alcohol and drug free life and the grandfamilies programs, which is geared toward providing resources for grandparents who are raising their grandchildren and, in some cases, great-grandchildren.
“We’re trying to be a one-stop-shop for everything community-based,” Vandevander said. “Anna has been doing the monthly grandfamilies café. It’s a support group for grandparents raising their grandchildren, which is a growing need in this county.”
A newer program is the snuggle and read events which are done at the elementary schools and Wellness Center.
“We take blankets and books into the school, invite the parents or grandparents or whoever they want to come sit with them,” Vandevander said. “We read and [the kids] get to pick out books and they take a blanket home. We try to do at least four or five of them every year and hit all the elementary schools and then we’ll do one local at the Wellness Center for younger kids.
“People really love that,” she continued. “It’s been a big hit. The kids love it. The parents love it. We’ve had kids come back and tell us that when they see that blanket, it reminds them of that time. That’s our goal. That’s what we want to happen.”
Annual events include the Wear Blue in April for National Child Abuse Prevention Month, Community Easter Egg Hunt – this year on Saturday, April 19, at Stillwell Park – First Fridays and end of summer block party and the Empty Bowls fundraiser in the fall.
As for new programming, the FRN recently received a large grant from WVU Resource Corporation for a commercial kitchen. The funding was initiated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which was divvied up and Shelley Moore Capito sponsored an Agricultural Expansion fund with it. Then it went through the WVU Resource Corporation down to the FRN.
With the ink dry on the contract, Vandevander said she and the board are working on the process to get the commercial kitchen built.
“We would like it to go here, but if we can’t make that happen – we’re trying to purchase the food pantry building – and if we do, we will build the commercial kitchen there. The land goes clear out to the other side of the parking lot so we could build on. In my head, that seems like a better option honestly, but I don’t know. We’re in the beginning phases.”
Once the commercial kitchen is built, Vandevander said there will be a position open for a program manager who will organize the use of the kitchen. This will include cooking classes for the community and much more in the future.
There are also positions open on the board and Vadevander said the voting session is coming up in June and at that time, the board hopes to welcome new members to its ranks.
“All of our board members are wonderful because they do volunteer their time and do come and help with these big events that we do,” she said.
Those interested in the programs at the FRN or to be a member of the board, may contact the office at 304-799-6847 or on their Facebook page at PCFRN-Pocahontas County Family Resource Network.
