Family Matters Resource Center Is On A Mission To Unite and Strengthen Families and Individuals
If there is a need in Alliance, the Family Matters Resource Center steps up.
“I like to say that we offer services from the womb to the tomb,” explained Raymont Johnson, speaking to fellow Alliance Rotarians at a recent weekly luncheon. “And when we identify a gap in service, we don’t sit back and say that someone should be doing something about it. We do something about it.”
Johnson and his wife, Brenda, are the force behind the Family Empowerment Ministries Inc. (FEMI), which was founded by the couple in 2007 while they were living in Maryland. Raymont, a retired U.S. Air Force veteran and teacher, and Brenda, a music teacher and chef, relocated to their hometown in Alliance in 2014.
“We came home to do the work that God has called us to do,” said Raymont Johnson, pastor of the Spirit of God Christian Center, which started as a space in the College Plaza shopping center. Over the last decade, it has expanded and FEMI and the church are now housed at the former First Presbyterian Church, located at 425 E. Market Street and can be reached by calling 330-913-7007. “Now God has seen a way to give us the space to execute the vision that He put in our heart.”
Johnson listed the numerous programs and services that take place throughout the year at the Family Matters Resource Center, noting that most are exclusive to the center and were started after the Johnsons recognized a need in the Carnation City.
For instance, eight third-graders regularly visit the center for after-school tutoring. Deemed “the awesome crew” by Johnson, the students are working on passing the third-grade reading proficiency test, of which more than 45 percent of students state-wide score below the grade level.
“When we saw that statistic, we recognized there was a need,” said Johnson, noting that communities project and build prisons based on the number of students failing those tests, knowing they will eventually need to house a number of them. “So we started this program, which is the only after-school program in the city with this academic focus.”
During tutoring sessions, the students work on reading skills and take practice tests in order to be prepared to take the state test.
“We started out with 10 students, but now we only have eight,” said Johnson. “The truth is, though, that there are probably 100 students that could benefit from this type of tutoring. That’s what you sometimes find when you do our kind of work. We can identify things that people need, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they want it. They don’t want to put the investment in to make sure their child has what he or she needs to succeed.”
However, Johnson is optimistic that the tutoring program will prove to be beneficial to the students enrolled presently and that will help it expand in the future.
Another example of a program that was founded based on a need in the community is Diaper Days Xtreme after it was revealed several years ago that Stark County had one of the highest infant mortality rates in the state and there were pockets of Alliance with high numbers of babies dying prior to their first birthday.
As a result, the Family Matters Resource Center started Diaper Days Xtreme, with the help of Thrive in Canton, where expectant and new mothers receive a large box of diapers and wipes each month for a year after completing safety courses on three consecutive days.
“We don’t focus in on one area,” said Johnson. “We try to just fill those gaps.”
That includes a food pantry that operates on the first and second Friday of each month and also provides emergency service.
FEMI also provides a free Soul Food Dinner for about 100 each first Sunday of the month, asking those who can to give a donation. The food is prepared by Brenda Johnson, who operates BJ’s Kitchen, a catering service that provides scratch-made comfort food at its best.
“The food we serve is the same stuff that we would sell,” said Johnson. “The meal we provide is the same level that we expect to be served.”
About 50 meals are served at the Family Matters Resource Center on those Sundays and another 40 to 50 are delivered to shut-ins and seniors.
“Between the food pantry and Soul Food Sunday meals, we feed 500 to 600 people a month,” said Johnson, noting that the pantry has seen a 40 percent increase in traffic over the last several months. “That tells us there is quite a need.”
Tuesdays are busy at FMRC. From 9 a.m. to noon, members of the community can have a free consultation with an attorney about issues that are impacting their quality of life, limiting their opportunities, or threatening their safety, health, or stability. The Neighborhood Law Project also helps with minority small business and non-profit startups as well as court debts, driver’s license suspensions, criminal records, barriers to employment, and housing issues.
During that same time, families of opioid addicts can complete a brief training and receive a free NARCAN kit that could potentially save their loved one’s life if he/she would overdose.
Also from 9 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays as well as noon to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays, the Greater Stark County Urban League operates a satellite office with a focus on its Building Bridges With Navigators program, a premier work education and employment program.
Through Aspire of Stark County, Family Empowerment Ministries also provides GED classes, pre-employment tests and other adult education services from 8 to 11 a.m. Monday through Wednesday.
Additional programs that the Family Matters Resource Center provides include:
- Basic computer skills classes for seniors to help them navigate the world of email and the internet.
- Mentorship programs at both Alliance High School and Alliance Middle School, known as Lunch with a Leader. At the high school level, students are introduced to different leaders and professionals from the community to expose them to different career paths and as many one-on-one mentorships are established as possible. At the middle school level, students have the opportunity to talk about issues that their parents may not talk with them about, such as the recent topic of stress – what causes it in the students’ lives and healthy ways to deal with it.
- Youth Night Out is held every second Friday of the month when families come together and prepare a meal and get lessons in cooking and nutrition.
- Creating Lasting Family Connections Classes, which are nine sessions and aims to strengthen relationships between family members as they gain valuable communications skills while raising healthy, resilient children.
- Parent Cafes, which allow parents to learn from each other while they discuss a number of topics.
- Training for men that revolves around fatherhood, including 24/7 Dad, Father Factor and the Inside Out Dad.
“Everything we provide at the Family Matters Resource Center is free,” said Johnson, noting grants and donations help fund the services as does his church as Spirit of Faith is growing.
“In all the things we do, no one has ever asked if we are Democrat, Republican, or Independent,” said Johnson. “Because that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that we are meeting a need in their lives. And we don’t have a Black or white problem in Alliance. We have a poverty problem. The Family Matters Resource Center has the heart and the space to serve, so that’s what we do. We love God and people and we want to serve.”
For more information about the Family Matters Resource Center, visit femiohio.org, or call 330-913-7007
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Those interested in joining the Alliance Rotary Club should contact Mark Locke by email at markmlocke75@gmail.com
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