Resource Center boosts families in Alliance
When there is a need in Alliance, the Family Matters Resource Center steps up.
“I like to say that we offer services from the womb to the tomb,” Raymont Johnson told his fellow Alliance Rotary members during a luncheon meeting. “And when we identify a gap in service, we don’t sit back and say that someone should be doing something about it. We do something about it.”
Johnson and his wife, Brenda, are the force behind the Family Empowerment Ministries Inc., which they founded in 2007 while they were living in Maryland.
Raymont Johnson, a retired U.S. Air Force veteran and teacher, and Brenda, a music teacher and chef, relocated in 2014 to their hometown of Alliance.
“We came home to do the work that God has called us to do,” said Raymont Johnson, pastor of the Spirit of God Christian Center, which started as a space in the College Plaza shopping center. Over the last decade, it has expanded, with FEMI and the church now occupying the former First Presbyterian Church at 425 E. Market St. They can be reached at 330-913-7007.
“Now God has seen a way to give us the space to execute the vision that He put in our heart,” Johnson said during the recent meeting.
Johnson listed numerous programs and services available throughout the year at the Family Matters Resource Center, noting that most are exclusive to the center and were started after the Johnsons recognized a need in the Carnation City.
For instance, eight third-graders regularly visit the center for after-school tutoring. Deemed “the awesome crew” by Johnson, the students are working to pass the third-grade reading proficiency test. He noted that more than 45% of students statewide score below their grade level on the test.
“When we saw that statistic, we recognized there was a need,” Johnson said. “So we started this program, which is the only after-school program in the city with this academic focus.”
During tutoring sessions, the students work on reading skills and take practice tests to prepare for the state test.
“We started out with 10 students, but now we only have eight,” said Johnson. “The truth is, though, that there are probably 100 students that could benefit from this type of tutoring. That’s what you sometimes find when you do our kind of work. We can identify things that people need, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they want it. They don’t want to put the investment in to make sure their child has what he or she needs to succeed.”
Johnson, though, said he remains optimistic the tutoring program will prove beneficial, and that it can be expanded.
Another program created under FMRC was Diaper Days Xtreme. He said it was born out of statistics that showed Stark County had one of the highest infant mortality rates in the state, and that there were pockets of Alliance with high numbers of babies dying prior to their 1st birthday.
As a result, FMRC worked with Thrive in Canton, and now expectant and new mothers receive a large box of diapers and wipes each month for a year after completing safety courses on three consecutive days.
“We don’t focus in on one area,” said Johnson. “We try to just fill those gaps.”
That includes a food pantry that operates on the first and second Friday of each month and also provides emergency service.
FMRC also provides a free Soul Food Dinner for about 100 people on the first Sunday of the month, asking those who can to give a donation. The food is prepared by Brenda Johnson, who operates BJ’s Kitchen, a catering service that creates scratch-made comfort food.
“The food we serve is the same stuff that we would sell,” said Johnson. “The meal we provide is the same level that we expect to be served.”
About 50 meals are served at the Family Matters Resource Center on those Sundays and another 40 to 50 are delivered to shut-ins and seniors.
“Between the food pantry and Soul Food Sunday meals, we feed 500 to 600 people a month,” said Johnson, noting that the pantry has seen a 40% increase in traffic over the last several months. “That tells us there is quite a need.”
Tuesdays are busy at FMRC.
From 9 a.m. to noon, members of the community can have a free consultation with an attorney about issues that are impacting their quality of life, limiting their opportunities, or threatening their safety, health or stability. The Neighborhood Law Project also helps with minority small business and non-profit startups as well as court debts, driver’s license suspensions, criminal records, barriers to employment, and housing issues.
During that time, families of opioid addicts can complete a brief training and receive a free NARCAN kit that could potentially save their loved one’s life.
From 9 a.m. to noon Tuesdays and noon to 4 p.m. Wednesdays, the Greater Stark County Urban League operates a satellite office with a focus on its Building Bridges With Navigators program, a premier work education and employment program.
Through Aspire of Stark County, Family Empowerment Ministries also provides GED classes, pre-employment tests and other adult education services from 8 to 11 a.m. Monday through Wednesday.
Additional programs that the Family Matters Resource Center provides include:
· Basic computer skills classes for seniors to help them navigate the world of email and the internet.
· Mentorship programs at Alliance High School and Alliance Middle School, known as Lunch with a Leader. At the high school level, students are introduced to different leaders and professionals from the community to expose them to different career paths and as many one-on-one mentorships are established as possible. At the middle school, students can talk about issues that their parents might not talk with them about, such as the recent topic of stress – what causes it in the students’ lives and healthy ways to deal with it.
· Youth Night Out is held every second Friday of the month when families come together and prepare a meal and get lessons in cooking and nutrition.
· Creating Lasting Family Connections Classes, which are nine sessions and aims to strengthen relationships between family members as they gain valuable communications skills while raising healthy, resilient children.
· Parent Cafes, which allow parents to learn from each other while they discuss a number of topics.
· Training for men that revolves around fatherhood, including 24/7 Dad, Father Factor and the Inside Out Dad.
“Everything we provide at the Family Matters Resource Center is free,” Johnson said. He said grants and donations, as well as his church, help with funding.
“In all the things we do, no one has ever asked if we are Democrat, Republican, or Independent,” said Johnson. “Because that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that we are meeting a need in their lives. And we don’t have a Black or white problem in Alliance. We have a poverty problem. The Family Matters Resource Center has the heart and the space to serve, so that’s what we do. We love God and people and we want to serve.”
For more information about the Family Matters Resource Center, visit femiohio.org or call 330-913-7007
This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Raymont Johnson: Alliance's Family Matters Resource Center solves needs in city
