Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander spent Monday morning with staff and clients of the River Center in Peterborough, taking part in a Family Resource Center roundtable at 9 Vose Farm Road.
“Our family resource centers and the services they provide to the people in our state are vital, and we want to be sure they can access the federal funding they need,” Goodlander said.
The roundtable included River Center Executive Director Odette Butler, Operations and Development Manager Sue Whitaker; Communications, Marketing & Money Matters Manager Nisa Simila; Community Resource Specialist and Kinship Navigator Mandy Carter, and incoming board chair Peggy Lee.
Other participants included Rob Gillis, Executive Director of Monadnock Worksource; and Karen Gomez and Rachel Kowalski of HCS Keene.
River Center clients Joanne Robinson, who cares for several mentally ill family members as well as raising her 14-year-old granddaughter; Luis M., who fled Mexico with his family to escape the cartels; and Mike Merra, who is helping raise a grandchild and provides legal services to the River Center, all told their stories of how the River Center has helped their families.
Luis, who asked that his last name not be used, and his family left Mexico with just the clothes on his back after drug cartels came to their region.
“We ran. We had nothing,” Luis said. “Literally nothing. On the border, they split my family up. I had a passport and a visa, but my family did not. They said to me at the border, ‘You come here, and now we’re going to have to give you money,’ and I said, ‘I don’t need money. I just need permission to stay here and raise my kids in a safe environment, and be able to work.’
Luis and his family spent 10 months in a refugee camp on the U.S. border before meeting volunteers from Keene-based Project Home who brought them to New Hampshire. A former rancher and rodeo cowboy, Luis now works in manufacturing in the region.
“The people here are so very kind. No matter who you are and where you come from, they always help and try to do their best,” Luis said.
Luis said the help he has received in New Hampshire has enabled his family to start a new life.
“It has been a long journey, but cowboys never quit. With the help of Nisa (Simila) and all the people at the River Center, I am going to be able to make it. They have helped me do my taxes, they helped me to be able to work, they have helped me with all my paperwork,” Luis said.
Luis said he had been offered work for pay under the table, but he turned it down.
“I am not a criminal. I want to do things the right way, and I don’t need any money from the government. I just want to be part of the community,” Luis said. “This community has given so much to me and my family.”
Luis, like many of the River Center’s clients, learned about its many services after receiving help through the tax assistance program.
Joanne Robinson, who is raising her 14-year-old granddaughter while working full time and caring for mentally ill family members and a disabled partner, says the River Center’s Kinship program, which provides support for grandparents raising their grandchildren, has been her “lifeline.”
“I just found out my granddaughter needs an IEP. She has several diagnoses, and I didn’t understand half the terminology they were using, and I needed to prepare for the meeting. That is just one example of what Mandy (Carter) and the River Center helps me with,” Robinson said. “They are my angels. I would be lost without them.”
Goodlander asked questions about recent changes in DHHS state funding and new requirements for the Kinship program grants.
“I believe so deeply in the mission of Family Resource Centers, and what you do to bring partners together. I hope I can come away with ways that I can be helpful for all of you,” Goodlander said.
Butler said that while the River Center does receive $85,000 in Family Resource Center funding, they recently made the difficult decision to turn down $23,000 in state Kinship Program funding because the requirements attached to the grant funds had become unworkable.
“We can’t do the work we need to do and also meet these new requirements. I just didn’t feel that we had enough staff to do all the things that they are now requiring us to do, ” Butler said. “We will continue to provide Kinship services, but we need to be able to provide all the services people need, so we will continue to do it without the state. We are pursuing other ways to meet that funding gap.”
Goodlander expressed concern about the grant requirements, saying that “the last thing people need is more red tape.”
“I’ll look into this DHHS funding, and I am very concerned about it,” she said.
Butler said that due to the funding changes, the River Center and the Grapevine’s program for custodial grandparents will be rebranded as the Kinship Family Support Program.
Mike Merra, a retired attorney who provides pro bono services to the River Center, said the “Families, Forest, and Farms” program has been invaluable to his family.
“We absolutely love this program. My grandson went on a hike, and he just loved it. When parents split up, they kind of lose that opportunity for enrichment, and this program helps fill that gap,” Merra said. “What goes on here is unbelievable, and I hope at the federal level, they will be able to provide support.”
Goodlander pledged to seek additional support for the state’s family resource centers.
“What I see here is that there is an opportunity to rebuild,” Goodlander said, “These family resource centers are really a hub for families, for people of all ages, no matter who you or where you’re coming from, you can come and be a part of this. You are doing such a service for all of us.”