Make a Difference: Volunteer with the Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center

Kids Count Data (2021) shows 58.6% of family households in Mississippi County have children under 18 who are at or below 185% of the federal poverty level based on ACS five-year estimates, making Mississippi County the fifth-highest county in this category in the state of Missouri. With facts like these, there is no higher feeling than creating lasting impacts, empowering others and providing service to those in need within your community.

The Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center (SWFLC) was founded in East Prairie, Mo., in Mississippi County in 1992 by the Epworth Children’s Home in St. Louis. It was named after Susanna Wesley, who was well-known for exhibiting outstanding parenting characteristics and being the mother of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. In 2015, the center expanded to a second location in Charleston, Mo.

The Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center began with a primary focus to help at-risk families suffering from poverty, a lack of education, substance abuse and the skills needed to care for children adequately. The center has continued this mission for more than 29 years, providing numerous services to the citizens of Mississippi County, including a domestic violence and sexual assault shelter, access to trained advocates, a batterer intervention program, a 24-hour crisis hotline, a safe exchange and visitation program, mental health counseling, youth programs, an adult education program, parenting courses, financial courses and training for local law enforcement. Volunteers assist with many of these programs; here, meet two of them.

Saying thank you: Elanore Moreton

Elanore Moreton has volunteered with SWFLC since its founding, serving as a member of the Fundraising Committee and Board of Directors and holding office as secretary. Moreton volunteers through community outreach by sending personalized thank-you notes to every person, business and organization that assists the Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center. She feels everyone who assists in improving the community must understand how thankful the organization is for its help. She has purchased card publishing tools to ensure each person or organization receives a unique “thank you.”

“I believe I have sent thousands of cards over the years,” Moreton said.

Before volunteering, Moreton assisted her husband with farming duties and was a homemaker. She has remained busy throughout the years not only volunteering her time to assist with efforts at the SWFLC, but also through volunteering with the United Methodist Church, the Dogwood Azalea Festival, the Charleston Gardening Club and the Girl Scout Association. Of her time with SWFLC, Moreton says she has loving memories with the grassroots organization from when it was first built in East Prairie, Mo., to when it acquired a second location in Charleston, Mo. She has seen numerous people attend programs at Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center as children and then write thank-you notes as they have given back to the organization as adults.

Moreton says she felt she had to join the Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center as a volunteer because she loved the positive change the organization creates in the community.

“One of the greatest impacts of Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center is the organization’s ability to help people in need no matter the person’s situation,” Moreton says.

If one is interested in volunteering but doesn’t know where to start, Moreton suggests to “Start with anything. You can do absolutely anything that will allow you to be of service, and most importantly, find the type of service that will allow you to enjoy doing the work.”

Advocate for those in need: Carol Jane Burke

Carol Jane Burke, another Charleston, Mo., native, has volunteered with the Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center for more than 10 years. She said she believes the organization and staff are gifted and true pioneers in leading the community to create change and opportunity for children; their service to survivors of domestic and sexual violence, she says, is superb.

“As a member of the Board of Directors, we would often hear some of the stories of the survivors of domestic or sexual violence. Although we did not know the names of these people or all of the details, it was still extremely heartbreaking to hear the stories and situations that we, as community members, were unaware of existing,” Burke says. “I was simply amazed at how the Susanna Wesley advocates can take the hands of survivors and lead them through such trying times by giving them knowledge of the justice system and truly providing our community with so much more than what meets the eye. I was also amazed at the overwhelming amount of support the organization receives from law enforcement and community leaders. It is what drew my heart to the organization.”

Despite the pandemic, the Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center has continued to remain open, as not all residents of Mississippi County feel comfortable reporting they are victims of crime or that they have witnessed crime. Often, survivors of crime are reluctant to seek help and try to deal with these life-threatening situations on their own. The pandemic has increased the likelihood of violence and the need for families to receive additional meals and supplies.

“Despite COVID-19, Susanna Wesley has been able to distribute thousands of meals and continues to provide a haven and many opportunities for kids that may not have the opportunities, especially during the summers,” Burke says. “Just knowing that kids are getting nourishment and the basics … makes the difference with Susanna Wesley. They truly strive to meet their mission of building healthy families.”

Burke suggests anyone interested in volunteering in their community should pick a cause and go for it.

“There are so many needs in our community and several causes that one can join,” she says. “If you are interested in volunteering with Susanna Wesley, please go for it! Susanna Wesley encompasses multifaceted solutions to problems for children, different programs, provides for victims of crime, counseling, advocacy during and after violence situations, and reaches everyone in need.”

The numbers

The Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center aims to build healthy families, which begins with enabling them to understand how to talk to the right people who can help when they feel in danger. In 2020, the Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center in Mississippi County was able to provide:

-5,519 services throughout victim services programs

-869 shelter nights to victims of domestic violence and/or sexual assault and their children

-2,361 case management services

-1,043 civil/criminal services

-920 hours of trauma-informed therapy

-34,680 free meals to children and adults during a 10-week summer food program

-courses for 20 families who enrolled in and eight families who completed the Building Strong Mississippi County Families Program

-and courses for 60 students enrolled in the adult education program.

Want to help?

The Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center welcomes all people who are interested in volunteering with the organization. For more information on becoming a volunteer, visit swflc.com or contact the office by calling (573) 233-8391. John Wesley said, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” What good will you do?