Family Resource Center begins repairs

With licensure appearing imminent, the director of the Family Resource Center is proceeding with a laundry list of big-ticket repairs in order to operate come fall.

"We're watching our bank account dwindle, but we're hanging on another day," director Denise Lincoln said.

In February, Lincoln learned the center required a license to operate, something she has appealed twice. The center, at 1202 S. Sprigg St., runs a free after-school program that serves about 15 children in impoverished South Cape.

Health, sanitation and fire inspectors uncovered about 25 problems, ranging from leaks to a lack of emergency exits to missing sprinkler heads. Board members estimated a repair tab of between $50,000 and $60,000, and initially considered shutting their doors. After some "soul-searching," the board decided to continue operation.

So far, smoke detection heads have been installed, along with alarm horn and strobe signals. A water heater is in the process of being moved from a bathroom, requiring wiring and electrical changes. Such changes have proved difficult in the 67-year-old building, which Lincoln describes jokingly as "cranky."

Contractors spent Wednesday replacing the roof. New carpet has been installed in the library, and plans are in place to put vinyl flooring in the kitchen and bathroom. Remaining work includes installing more emergency exits, encapsulating furnaces, rehanging the grid on a suspended ceiling, and scraping and painting the ceiling in the auditorium, which formerly was a church sanctuary. Laminate flooring is needed in an activity room.

Community effort

Improving the building highlights a community effort to repair what many families call a crucial aspect of South Cape. In general, they say the area frequently is overlooked.

But because of the work of volunteers, church groups, and hired help providing materials at cost, Lincoln thinks the center will only have to spend about half of what was estimated. The center has been using program funds for the repairs, which Lincoln says will need to be replaced.

Eldon Nattier, a business owner along Sprigg Street, resigned his position on the board in order to assume the title of project manager. He has been overseeing repair work and said he thinks the center will be up to code by the Sept. 1 deadline or that at least enough work will be complete to receive an extension.

"It gets to a point where we run out of volunteers. ... We're trying to get the community behind us again to make more things happen," Nattier said. Many neighborhood families said they have come to rely on the stability, leadership and outreach provided by the center.

While Lincoln said she does not think the center should have to have a license to operate, she said the process of working to obtain one has made the center safer. It's not the safety standards she objects to, but rather continuous paperwork that would be required of staff, she said. Schools and most churches are exempt from licensure.

She has not given up seeking an exemption and places hope in legislation awaiting the governor's signature. House Bill 1946 gives "neighborhood youth development programs" exemption from licensure if the program is affiliated with a "national congressionally chartered" organization. Girl Scouts, Big Brothers Big Sisters and 4-H all fall under this category, Lincoln said. The Family Resource Center does not, but Lincoln intends to argue that because the resource center is affiliated with several such groups it should be given the exemption. The bill would still require exempted programs to meet staff ratio, health and safety standards.

"We don't have a sense whether the governor is going to sign it or not," said Kimberley Sprenger, a manager in the child-care regulation section of the Department of Health and Senior Services.

A license is not required to operate a summer camp, and the center's camp begins June 30. Lincoln, who announced her resignation as director in April, will stay on through mid-August to train the new director, who has not yet been named. Lincoln is leaving to travel with her husband, who has accepted a new job.

"I want to see it through and leave the center stronger. ... At first we said it's not worth it. And then we said of course it's worth it. These kids are our future," she said.

lbavolek@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123

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