The Benicia Family Resource Center is one of this city’s hidden gems that offers many resources to Benicia’s families with children. The center is also instrumental in providing support to community members during this time of crisis through emergency assistance.
The Family Resource Center, or FRC, opened its doors in 2004 and is part of a Solano County Network of Centers that was established in 1995. The grant-funded center is a city program that is under the supervision of the Benicia Police Department and is one of the six Family Resource Centers in Solano County.
True to its vision – “Safe Children, Strong Families” – FRC is a community-based agency that provides information and referral services to families with children. It is rife with local resources for parenting information, crisis referral, mental health referral and child health and safety referrals. Most recently, the FRC has added the COVID-19 Citizen’s Assistance Program to its plate, with funding from the City of Benicia. The center has been administering emergency assistance to singles, couples, and families that have been hit the hardest by the COVID-19 lay-offs and shutdowns. The city’s goal was to act swiftly to assist in maintaining household stability. Although that specific program will end with the gradual reopening of the county, the Benicia FRC hopes to remain a resource to families in the difficult months to come.
All year long, the Benicia FRC provides limited basic needs assistance to families that are experiencing temporary financial hardship. Assistance could be in the form of partial rent assistance, utility assistance or food assistance. The Center will coordinate with other organizations in town to make sure families are getting the best services they can within our community. As part of our basic needs assistance program, the Benicia FRC, in partnership with the Soroptimists Club of Benicia, operates the Closet of Opportunities and Provisions, also known as The SCOOP Closet. Community members in need can access the closet for basic needs items such as toiletries, cleaning products and diapers. Furthermore, the center also sponsors a number of annual events including a backpack and school supply drive in July, limited Thanksgiving assistance and Christmas assistance program. The holiday program is funded entirely by community donations. More recently, FRC is expanding to assist the Police Department with our homeless population needs. The FRC is blessed with a large network of Benicia businesses, clubs, organizations and individuals who all come together to make the holidays brighter for an incredible number of Benicia families in need.
Historically, funding for the FRC has come from a variety of sources, including, but not limited to Solano County, First 5 Solano, Kaiser, FEMA, United Way, and the Yocha Dehe Winton Nation. However, the center continues to find other sources of funding to further expand its services so that it can better serve the community.
For more information about the Benicia Family Resource Center, located at 150 East K Street, please contact Kendall Lara at the FRC (klara@ci.benicia.ca.us) or Patti Baron at the Benicia Police Department (pbaron@ci.benicia.ca.us)
