PHOTO BY MEGHAN ERKKINEN

JEANNÉ CULBERTSON IS A FREQUENT DONOR TO THE FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER AND HAS BEEN GREATLY INVOLVED IN THE FIFE SCHOOL DISTRICT SINCE HER DAUGHTERS BEGAN THERE 29 YEARS AGO. The center is a great place to go when people need help and it would be devastating to families if it had to close, she said.

Resource center in danger of closing its doors

By Meghan Erkkinen

Having been raised by a struggling single mom, Billie Leitner knows what it’s like to go without – and that’s why she dedicates so much of her time to providing children with what she never had growing up.

Leitner has spent the last 11 years running the Family Resource Center, which provides needy Fife School District families with food, children’s clothing, household items, even furniture. Now, she’s moving on to take over another charitable organization – and the community is struggling to fill the void.

The center, in a portable at Endeavor Intermediate School in Milton, has been closed for a month because there aren’t any volunteers to oversee the center or sort through donations.

“It is disappointing that we can’t find somebody to open the doors of the resource center,” Leitner said. “It’s been shut down for a month and I just hate it.”

Previously, the center was open every Tuesday from 12:30-3:30 p.m. for families to stop by and pick up food or items they might need. Leitner stocked the refrigerator with fresh milk, eggs and cheese the day before.

“It’s not about me, it’s not about the parents. It’s not about anything other than meeting the basic needs of the school age children and getting them off to a good start,” she said. “I’ve had people tell me that the resource center changed their lives.”

Now, the future of the center – a lifeline for many in the community – is in jeopardy.

“I think we’re just kind of in a quandary as to what will happen,” said Tess Shearer, a counselor at Endeavor, who refers students and families to the center. “We’re really looking for someone to coordinate volunteers and oversee the organization.”

On an average Tuesday, the center usually helped five or 10 families, Shearer said. Now, the center is only accessible by counselors who know of children who might need a pair of shoes or a new shirt.

“I just think it (the resource center) has been a wonderful godsend to families,” Shearer said. “It’s just been so nice to have on our school grounds, and of course we have three schools right here (Endeavor, Discovery Primary School and Surprise Lake Middle School).”

In addition to offering everyday items, the resource center also fills backpacks with school supplies in September and wraps and gives out Christmas presents in December. This year, about 170 students received back-to-school backpacks, and about 70 families received aid during the holiday season – in total, about 200 children received gifts.

“When I first started, we just had clothing and I only had a small portion of one portable,” Leitner said. “Now we’re in two portables. We have a food bank, clothing, household items, furniture.”

But both Leitner and Shearer admit that taking over the organization means more than just unlocking the doors on Tuesdays. Leitner has worked hard to establish community partnerships to secure donations. She spends time sorting through donations and choosing only those clothes she’d put on her own children. And she gets to know people, and will go above and beyond to get them what they need.

Leitner has gone so far as to help a woman secure a washing machine so she didn’t have to spend time at the laundromat everyday. She even bought one woman a car, and the woman paid her back over time.

“That is what is so fun about helping people – helping the people who really need it,” Leitner said. “Things like that are what made me continue to keep the resource center open.”

And beyond just providing students with what they need to live, Leitner said it gives them a better chance for success.

“I truly believe that if you start on a basic level with families and you meet their basic needs, such as food, clothing, transportation, these kids are more likely to be in school and stay in school if they have everything they need,” she said. “Some of these kids would just not have it if the resource center wasn’t there.”

Now, Leitner is working for an organization called Brightening 4 Children, which provides services similar to those of the resource center, but also receives funding, as the resource center does not. She said the partnership between the two organizations will continue.

“We want to make sure that we have the things for the kids that the resource center didn’t have the funds to offer them,” she said – things like a cake and a present on their birthday, and more support for the Christmas and back-to-school programs.

“These are things we could do for them as a community if everyone was just willing to give,” Leitner said. “I want to see how much the school district and the community want to keep this resource center open.”

If you are interested in coordinating the resource center, or in helping to wash and sort clothes and other items, call Tess Shearer at (253) 517-1400 or Sean Whalen at (253) 517-1000.

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