Family Resource Center

The Cape Girardeau Family Resource Center is in transition.

Denise Lincoln, a steady and caring workhorse for Cape Girardea's south side, has stepped down from the center to spend time traveling with her husband. Over the years Lincoln has certainly earned the right to take some time off, volunteering so much time and energy to the center where children could meet and learn.

New director Michelle Wallace in a recent interview with the Southeast Missourian said that she has huge shoes to fill. She has varied experience. She ran a day care for 12 years, worked at the Family Resource Center in New Madrid County, served as a family resource aid for the Delta Area Economic Opportunity Corporation and worked at the East Missouri Action Agency.

But in addition to getting ready for the center's after-school program, which begins Monday, she also faces a building inspection as the FRC learned several months ago that the building would need to pass inspection in order to operate its after-school program.

Volunteer work on the facility has covered many of the repairs -- estimated at $60,000 -- needed for the building to pass inspection. The organization will have to dip into its operating funds to help pay for much of the repairs, but the neighborhood hopes to help by raising funds.

One neighborhood business, the Rose Bed Inn, is holding the second annual Sock Hop on Sept. 14. Last year, the event raised more than $10,000. Tickets can be obtained by calling 334-8170 or 332-7673, and a donation of $20 a ticket is recommended.

We wish everyone the best. To Denise, may you be safe in your travels; to Michelle, we hope your guiding hand will improve lives of children; and to the community, we hope your efforts will be rewarded with a more prosperous, a more educated and safer neighborhood.