By EMMA BARTLETT

Stepping into OneCranston Health Equity Zone’s (HEZ) new family support center is like walking into a friend’s home; it’s an inviting space and the people there are happy to see you. Tan walls, two comfy couches and a blueish gray rug decorate the front room with a reception desk tucked in the left corner. The building is small enough to have an intimate setting but large enough to accommodate all the center’s programs.

“It’s [the center] going to provide wrap-around resources to families, drop-in six days a week at different time points. We’re going to offer evidence-based parenting education support, workshops and events on topics like social and emotional health, connection with other families, parent leadership development, opportunities to receive support through many of our local partners,” said Sarah Cote, OneCranston HEZ initiative director.

Joanne McGonagle, CEO and president of CCAP, said the idea for the center came from Seena Franklin, vice president of program development, who has worked at CCAP for four and a half years.

“Probably most every single day of those four and a half years I’ve heard about how we need a family resource center,” said McGonagle. “The idea was finally pitched to the Rhode Island Foundation and they funded it.”

April 27 marked the soft opening and ribbon cutting of OneCranston HEZ’s new center which will open after Memorial Day Weekend. The center seeks to address the social and emotional health of children and hosted a drop-in activities week from April 18 to 22 where parents and children could participate in activities for the whole family and learn about the new center.

The center will have three community health workers (one fulltime and two part time employees) who will work at the facility and have a local connection to Cranston.

The Rhode Island Foundation provided OneCranston HEZ with a $250,000 grant which will last for two years; the organization would like to make this a long term initiative, and is looking for ways to make the center self sustainable after the funding’s use.

Zachary Nieder, the Rhode Island Foundation’s Senior Strategic Initiative Officer shared the foundation’s excitement for OneCranston HEZ’s family support center.

“What we were looking for was projects in the community driven by residents that were focused on moving upstream and thinking about how you – from a prevention standpoint – target improvements in the behavioral health of children and adolescents. And this project floated to the top in terms of flexibility, in terms of close resident engagement and the resident-driven nature of the idea,” said Nieder.

The center has a children’s room, teen room, two offices and two conference rooms. Celia Hernandez, who will work as the family center’s family navigator, has an office with a play area for children while she talks with parents. Additionally, while the walls within the family support center are currently bare, Ivy Swinski, OneCranston HEZ project manager, said the organization plans to decorate the walls with photos from their community events such as the farmers markets, their April drop-in activities week and future events.

Through providing support, resources, education, working with families and helping them manage the challenges of parenting, OneCranston HEZ’s family center is ready to assist. Some of the center’s community partners include Cranston Family Center, Anchor Recovery, Elizabeth Buffum Chace Center, Rest and CCAP’s Cranston Substance Use Task Force.

“OneCranston HEZ has continued to identify the many challenges that Cranston residents may face and create solutions to those challenges. And today is just another example of Cranston doing just that,” said RIDOH Project Officer Nwando Ofokansi, who acts as the liaison between RIDOH and OneCranston HEZ .

OneCranston is currently leasing the building which is located at 70 Gansett Ave. To find out more information about OneCranston HEZ, visit https://cranstonhez.org/.