FIRC : Mission

Mission

Strong Families. Strong Community.

Mission Statements History Financials Annual Report

Mission

FIRC promotes stable families.

Vision: Envisioning a caring and thriving community.

Values:

FIRC believes that with the proper tools, people can succeed as individuals, parents and community members

FIRC believes that strong families are the framework for strong communities

FIRC believes diversity makes for a richer community

FIRC believes that parents are the first and most important teacher to their children

Statements

FIRC works to strengthen families through education and financial resources. We believe strong sustainable families are the key to a strong and healthy community.

Executive Director Statement
At FIRC, our objective is to build strong families, as we believe strong families result in a strong year-round stable community. The best way to achieve this goal is to offer programs, which give people the tools to be better parents and providers for their families.

In order for FIRC to be the most effective resource for families in Summit County we have focused on building our relationships with other community partners and reviewed our budgeting to find ways to stretch our funding further. In addition, we work to highlight FIRC’s programs in the community which allow us to raise more money so we can increase the number of families we are able to assist.

FIRC works to support families in ways that social services cannot; a large role in our resort community. In Summit County, 82 percent of families have two working parents, which is one of the highest percentages in the country. This, combined with the high cost of living, gives families many challenges to remaining in this community on a year-round long-term basis. This is how FIRC tries to help—from assisting with those in financial crisis to those looking to be better parents. We believe our programs offer families opportunities to reach self-sustainability and strengthen the feeling of community. We look forward to providing future programs to achieve these goals.

Sincerely,
Tamara Drangstveit

Board Chair/President Statement
I am proud to see how the staff and board have collaborated to make FIRC even more effective in our community. In these times when more people need our services and when grants and donations are more difficult to find, strategic budgeting and community partnerships have allowed FIRC to fight through these winds of change. Instead of reducing programs, we are actively reaching out and filling even more of the human service needs in Summit County.

Each of our programs have found ways to manage the increase in demand as well as adding new services to help Summit County residents to become more self sufficient. Of all the programs at FIRC, General Assistance has faced the biggest demand. The food bank saw a 180% increase and rental assistance demands increased by 67% for a total of over $110,000 spent in emergency assistance cases. In addition to their core responsibilities, Community Support managers brought in several new programs including Food Share America, a discount grocery program, which helps people in the community save on food costs. Operation Frontline, a multi-week cooking class that teach families how to make affordable meals and improve nutrition. The final program added was the Summit Self-Sustainability Project, in cooperation with Summit County Government, is helping with job training skills and employment.

Our Families United program has served over 200 families this past year with home visits and classes geared toward improving the parent-child relationship as well as building life skills to make these families more successful in the community. Parent educators identified the need for parenting classes for families of children ages 5-12, and as a result, FIRC is offering Spanish and English classes using the Active Parenting Now curriculum, which focuses on issues of respect, discipline and self-esteem.

FIRC’s largest funding source, Summit Thrift and Treasure Thrift Store, has had a record-breaking year in sales and was a key asset to keeping FIRC financially stable. In addition, community members were grateful for the affordable shopping option. For those who couldn’t afford clothing for their children or new job, vouchers were provided.

To all of our supporters and volunteers, thank you! FIRC would not be able to succeed in these changing times without your involvement and care. Our neighbors are struggling and need us more than ever. We know that self-sustainability is essential if Summit County is to remain a diverse, year-round local community. FIRC is dedicated to working with families to improve both their situation and their future decisions to help them avoid downfalls that may have led them to us in the first place. We firmly believe that strong families are the framework for a strong community, and we will continue to provide programs which give people the tools to succeed as individuals, parents and community members.

Sincerely,
Linda Bateman, FIRC Board President

History

The Family & Intercultural Resource Center (FIRC), originally named the Summit County Family Resource Center (FRC), started serving Summit County, Colorado, in 1993 out of community necessity for more localized assistance.

At the time, childcare and parent effectiveness were identified as major challenges facing Colorado residents. As a result, the State provided partial funding for “Family Centers” with missions to address these and related issues; the funds provided helped kick-start the FRC.

In 1995, the FRC opened the Summit Thrift & Treasure store, the only nonprofit thrift store in the county. The thrift store opened in order to provide affordable clothing to Summit County residents and strengthen FRC’s financial stability.

In January of 2000, the Census revealed a 700% increase in the immigrant population in Summit County. This new information showed an important and urgent need for education and awareness to help the community adapt to the changes in the community’s population.

Summit County Government began a six-month planning process to address these new needs; 28 community members met monthly to strategize and plan the development of a diversity center.

It became obvious to the planning team that the FRC shared many of the same goals and objectives of the diversity planning team. As a result, FRC board members and the diversity planning team worked together to recreate the goals and mission for the newly named Family & Intercultural Resource Center (FIRC).

In 2003, FIRC moved to new offices in Dillon, Colorado, to share a location with Court Appointed Special Advocates, Early Childhood Options and Summit County Head Start, encouraging collaboration with these agencies. Since then, FIRC has improved and broadened family services, expanded food bank space and thrift store retail space, and continued to strengthen its staff to effectively meet the needs of Summit County.

In 2008, after a community health assessment and community health strategic plan were completed, FIRC was asked to address the problem of “access to health”. In addition, research based parenting classes have also been identified as lacking in Summit County by the Parenting Education and Strategic Planning group made up of various agencies whose mission is to safeguard children.

As a result, FIRC is now dedicated to identifying community partners in an effort to address the numerous uninsured and underinsured residents in Summit County as well as providing curriculum based parenting classes to all Summit County residents.

FIRC continues to be a community leader in the area of cultural integration, resource and referral services, emergency services, family support and education.

Financials

Demands for FIRC’s services have nearly doubled over the last three years. Thanks to the support of the community in increased donations, foundation support and revised budgeting, we have found ways to stretch our funding further and reach more people in need than ever before.

Over the last year, 90% of FIRC’s expenses went into programming. The following are numbers from October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010.

Overall FIRC Expenses by Program - $1,296,799
Expenses for FIRC 2010