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Safety Harbor Center Seeking Higher Profile
Mark Schantz/SUNCOAST NEWS
Dick Perrier, the Safety Harbor Neighborhood Family Center's newest program director and Margo Adams, the organizations latest executive director, have ideas for program expansion.
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Published: November 10, 2007
SAFETY HARBOR, Fla. - SAFETY HARBOR, Fla. - New officers at the Safety Harbor Neighborhood Family Center want to make the organization that provides support services to families and individuals, more of a household name.
The center recently named Margo Adams its executive director and Dick Perrier program director.
They say they are focusing on adding programs and enhancing existing programs that meet the community's needs.
To that end, Perrier said, he has been meeting with civic groups and others in the community to get the word out about the center's programs.
Other programs will be added as a need for them is discovered, he said.
In the meantime, the Neighborhood Family Center is poised to grow and play an ever-expanding role as safety net provider for the community, Perrier said.
"We need to have a higher profile, so people know we are the community's local support group," he says.
In addition to its main facility here, at 1003 Martin Luther King Jr. St. N., the Neighborhood Family Center operates two satellite operations.
One is at the Westminster Apartments in Oldsmar, and the other is in the East Clearwater area, near Highpoint Elementary School.
Pinellas County gave the center a $920,000 federal Community Redevelopment Block Grant, according to Adams. In addition, it received a $150,000 donation from pool supplies retailer Pinch A Penny.
The center will use the $1.07 million total to expand the East Clearwater facility, Adams said.
At the main location, Perrier said, the food pantry Church and Community Outreach operates is meeting an ever-increasing demand for emergency allotments of food to sustain families who have fallen on hard times.
The center provides a clothing pantry that helps people, especially job-seekers, find clothing. The demand on the clothing pantry should begin increasing, now that the weather is turning cooler, Perrier said.
In addition, the Safety Harbor center will refocus its adult literacy program so that clients can find higher-paying employment when referred for job placement, according to Perrier. The center's job placement program is being enhanced, he added.
The center's computer literacy program is also slated for an overhaul so it can encompass more adults, including seniors, who need help honing their computer skills, Perrier said.
Since the center's mission is to help families survive and thrive, the Safety Harbor facility is a home of the Pinellas County Women, Infants and Children program.
WIC provides supplemental nutrition, medical referrals and health-care education to pregnant women and new mothers, and infants and children up to the age of 5.
It also offers free parenting classes sponsored by Suncoast Mental Health Total Family Strategy Programs. These programs teach youngsters and adults how to manage conflicts and anger.
On Nov. 29, 7 - 9 p.m., the center will hold a holiday fundraiser, "Wreaths and Toys and Other Joys," at 801 Main Street, a downtown banquet hall. The traditional holiday party includes a wreath auction.
Autographed celebrity and novelty wreaths, inspired by sports figures, local notables and even members of The Beach Boys, will be auctioned.
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