Policy & Practice October 2018

locally speaking By Rodney Adams

Mecklenburg Community Resource Center Opens

O n June 4, 2018, the Mecklenburg County Community Resource Center (CRC) opened to provide inte- grated health and human services (H/HS) to county residents. Within the first two months of operation, the CRC provided service to more than 18,500 people. This amounts to a 46 percent increase in number of customers served daily. Mecklenburg County, home to the city of Charlotte and surrounding towns, is in North Carolina and has a popula- tion of more than 1 million people. The CRC, located at the Valerie C. Woodard campus inWest Charlotte, is the first of six planned, place-based service sites strategically located throughout Charlotte-Mecklenburg. The vision is simple, to “Strengthen Individuals and Families, Promote Health andWellness, and to Build Communities.” The CRC seeks to fulfill these objec- tives by providing access to the following programs: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); Medicaid; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); emergency assistance; child support enforcement; veterans services; the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); immunizations; child care assistance, care coordina- tion for children; and pregnancy care management programs and services. In addition, the CRC works with commu- Workforce Development Board, which provides opportunities that prepare people for education and available careers as well as connect businesses to skilled workers; n Loaves and Fishes , a local nonprofit emergency food pantry program that provides nutritionally balanced Photo courtesy of Mecklenburg County Community Resource Center nity partners on-site such as: n Charlotte Works , the local

The lobby of Mecklenburg County’s Community Resource Center.

numbers support the benefit to resi- dents of the CRC as a community-based, shared-service delivery model. Stabilizing families is a key com- ponent within the CRC. A strategic approach to utilize subsidized services through the lens of the social determi- nants of health (SDOH) ensures that families receive household stability while journeying on the pathway out of poverty. Building partnerships aligned with the SDOH will continue as an approach to ensure that residents can receive services necessary to stabilize their entire family in their community, in one visit and at one location, thereby removing transportation barriers. In the future, additional partners will provide services both on-site and adjacent to the CRC. Services will include assistance in housing stability, education, primary medical care, and behavioral health services. The CRC also serves as a partner to other major initiatives currently underway in the

groceries to individuals and families in a short-term crisis; and n Promising Pages , a nonprofit organization inspiring underserved children to achieve their dreams through book ownership. Each child visiting the “Kid’s Corner” departs with an age-appropriate book of their own to inspire life-long reading, assist in creating an inte- grated approach to stabilize families, and promote pathways to well-being. Of the 18,500 people who have come to the CRC since June, more than 11,524 customers accessed core services and the remaining 7,000 received assis- tance through other supportive services located within the center. During this time, 65 percent of the individuals served by Charlotte Works obtained full-time employment; more than 465 children received age-appropriate books through Promising Pages; and more than 1,500 families received emergency food to sustain their house- holds through Loaves and Fishes. These

See Mecklenburg on page 30

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October 2018 Policy&Practice