It's Christmas time Again!!!

It is so hard to believe that Christmas is only 57 days away!! We all know that this is the time of year that a child cherishes the most. Children look forward to waking up to presents under a tree and feeling the joy of Christmas. Unfortunately, the reality is that without help many children in our area will not have this experience.
Harvest Family Ministries and Upstate Family Resource Center hope to make Christmas memorable for disadvantaged children in the area. We have asked Spartanburg County School District 2 teachers, counselors, and office staff to refer parents of disadvantaged children to our Center. We know that these individuals see the pain and disappointment first-hand all year long and especially during Christmas time from children who will have a cold and joyless holiday.
You can help us change this! Please call us and let us know you will sponsor a child (or more if you can!) for Christmas. Maybe this will be the beginning of a lasting friendship between you and the child. Perhaps you can make a positive difference in a child’s life and change their life for the better.
Join us in our mission to assist families, especially the children.


“In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
Acts 20:35

God Bless--
Jessica McKinney

Carrying the Torch

Last evening I had the opportunity to be a part of a wonderful celebration. A celebration of successes, a celebration accomplishments, a celebration of a "Shining Star" in Spartanburg County as well as South Carolina. The Middle Tyger Community Center, Wanda Fowler the Executive Director and staff marked the 10 year anniversary of serving our community. As I sat and listened to all the great work that has touched the lives of so many I couldn't help but feel a sense of pride as well. The Upstate Family Resource Center has the same opportunity, only we have the blessing of their extraordinary example that was set before us. How exciting that we have the challenge of carrying this torch and passing it along to other communities to do the same. My vision for this Center is that we too become the "Shining Star" for all in our community. We certainly cannot become all things to all people, but we can become a compass giving direction and guidance through the maze of issues that families travel through. I hope that you will become inspired to find a way help us on this journey. We cannot do it ourselves; we need support and assistance in making this a priority in our community. We need citizens to become in engaged in the work that we are doing. We need you to take ownership of your community and help to build this great organization.

I challenge you to visit our facility to fully understand the scope of our work. I know that you will become as passionate as we are and committed to finding ways to join us in our efforts to strengthen children and families in our community. I hope to see you soon.

Kelley Ezell
Executive Director

Requirements to receive assistance from Upstate Family Resource Center

Please note the following requirements to receive assistance from Harvest Family Ministries.

Effective November 3, 2008, we will require the following:

-Picture ID
-Proof of current address (telephone or utility bills are accepted)
-Documentation of ANY Income Source (i.e. check stubs, disability forms, etc.)
-Department of Social Services printout (if applicable)
-Utility bill and disconnection notice (if seeking financial assistance)

***These items must be provided, even if you have been here in the past***

We will post this information at our entrances also.

Thanks!!!
Jessica

Volunteering

Interested in becoming active in your community? The best way to do so is to volunteer! Upstate Family Resource Center is holding two volunteer training sessions. Please call me to let me know you are coming to one:
October 24, 3:00 pm and October 27th at 9:00 am

I hope to see you there!

Jessica

First Blog- Hello!

10/14/2008

Hello to everyone... let me tell you a little about us here at the Upstate Family Resource Center.

We are located in Boiling Springs, SC in what was once a school building. The building itself was built in 1942 and has all the charm you would expect from an older building. We are so blessed to have this site and thankful for the opportunity to serve the community.

We offer lots of differecnt services here at the Center. We have an ever growing GED class, taught by Libby Evatt. Libby is a great teacher and is very commited to her students. She has a great sense of humor and will be happy to help anyone who comes into our facility. Another educational class we offer is ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages). We offer a daytime and evening class. These classes are lively and every student loves to come to class. Both GED and ESOL use technology to enhance instruction, and all of the students enjoy gaining more experience on a computer.

Schedule:
GED: Monday through Thursday, 8:30 am - 12:30 pm
In-takes, every Thursday at 8:30 am

Daytime ESOL:
Monday through Thursday, 9:00 am through 12:00 pm
Evening ESOL:
Tuesday and Thursday, 6:30 pm through 8:30 pm

We also offer parenting classes to parents with children under the age of five. Teenage mothers, under the age of 19 and are enrolled in school some other educational component may participate in the CARE program. You can call Liv Hayes or Angie Jones for more information. This is a great program to help young mothers achieve their educational goals.

Our computer labs are open to the public... in fact the YMCA After School that meets here is using it to add an educational component to their program. A nearby daycare also comes here to learn about computers and enjoy School District 2 approved websites. The kids love their time on the computer-- they especially love pbskids.org!

Another major part of our work here at Upstate Family Resource Center is to provide the necessary resources to empower families to reach their full potential. Through Harvest Family Ministries, we provide emergency food assistance. We also offer financial assistance to residents to Spartanburg County School District 2. HFM is a collaboration of area churches to be a centralized resource for families in need. Many churches in the area help fill our pantry shelves and offer their assistance. We are blessed to have wonderful, commited volunteers to help run HFM- especially Sandy! Sandy has become a cornerstone of HFM and she is not afraid to do anything!! Her compassion and love for her community shows in everything she takes on. Thank you Sandy!!!

There is SO much more to Upstate Family Resource Center than this short description. You need to stop by for a visit and we can show you how we are working to grow UFRC.

'Till next time,
Jessica McKinney
Assistant