Searcy rolls out mobile family resource center for students
SEARCY, Ark. – What most will see as a trailer on the outside, is much more within for families in Searcy.
Lined with toiletries, detergent and groceries, it looks like a mobile market, but in the new Searcy Public Schools Family Resource Center, everything for children and their parents is free to use.
“People that do need it, it’s going to be a big help for them,” Searcy High School Freshman Isabella Biggs said.
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Searcy School District Homeless Liaison and Federal Programs Coordinator Christine Harrell has been coordinating this way to reach all the children in temporary living situations. She said that 18 months ago, a grant presented a solution. Input from counselors, teachers, bus drivers and more helped shape what the center offers.
“We all go through hard times, but some kids just go through harder times, and it’s not fair,” Harrell said. “It’s not the kids’ fault.”
Hygiene products and food are just the start of the laundry list. What might be most impressive is a working washer and dryer. It will also have internet capabilities and a Chromebook in case that is the need a student has.
The lights, heat, A/C and laundry system run on a generator so the center can park almost anywhere for anyone in the school district who needs it. Two vetted volunteers will be always present when the resource center is open.
“I just want to make sure they are taken care of and they feel welcome,” Harrell said. “Because to be successful, we have to take care of their basic needs first.”
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Students also played a part in making the space more inviting with art and motivational messages. Soon it will open Tuesdays at Lion Stadium and Thursdays at Sidney Deener Elementary. Other days and locations will be added following the soft launch.
“Everybody has had it rough at some point, I feel like, and you can always use the trailer. It will always be open,” Biggs said.
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