Blue Federal Credit Union announces new family resource center
Dec. 8—CHEYENNE — In 2021, the Governor's Health Task Force identified a need for family resource centers across the state. This week, Blue Federal Credit Union and the Blue Foundation announced they will work toward meeting that need.
The community center, called the Boost Center, aims to serve the community by connecting people with local nonprofits.
"We're investing in a culture of hope," said Laura Fowler, executive director of the Blue Foundation.
She envisions the Boost Center as becoming a hub where people can come for support in things like getting food, rental assistance, housing assistance, insurance and other services to support a whole family. Fowler hopes the end result is providing sustainable financial independence to those seeking support. The center will also offer free financial classes catered to the needs of the community and individuals.
Development is projected to begin in late spring 2024 in the West Retail Building at the Blue World Headquarters campus near the intersection of Pershing Boulevard and Converse Avenue. Fowler said she hopes the whole project will be completed pro bono, with architectural design work already completed by Denver-based Open Studio, which also designed the headquarters building.
Fowler recently joined the Blue Foundation as the executive director after working as an educator in Laramie County School District 1 for more than 30 years. In her role there, she developed a passion for serving children from underserved backgrounds. Driven by this passion, she co-founded the PEEPS program in the school district, which supports LCSD1 families, offering services and classes.
"What I discovered in doing that work is that our nonprofits are amazing, they're doing such great work," she said. "But they're so siloed due to the nature of their funding that it's hard for them to work together."
In this new role, Fowler hopes to help communities discover pathways to realize these possibilities.
The impetus for Blue's investment in the community largely comes from the findings of the Governor's Health Task Force, which identified a need for more family resource centers across the state.
"Resource centers empower individuals, families, and caregivers to effectively navigate services and support options, to make informed choices, and streamlines access to a variety of services," the task force wrote in a 2021 report.
They identified various challenges across the state that these centers would work to address, including the following:
— Wyoming's population aged 65 and older is expected to increase 54% between 2019 and 2030
— No area agencies on aging
— Lack of coordination among providers
— Lack of sustainable funding
— Insufficient support services for aging and disabled residents to remain in their homes
— Gaps in knowledge of available services
Research in family resource centers across the country has shown that they can be effective in serving a community. Casey Family Programs reports a 45% reduction in cases of child abuse and neglect in Alachua County, Florida; a 20% increase in parents' self-reports on their ability to keep their children in their care from abuse in Massachusetts; and a 25% increase in the probability that a family reduced its risk of abuse with the addition of one differential response case management per week at a family resource center in San Francisco.
"We wanted to give back to our community on a deeper level and see how we could service people better," Fowler said.
Noah Zahn is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's local government/business reporter. He can be reached at 307-633-3128 or nzahn@wyomingnews.com. Follow him on X @NoahZahnn.
