Five Points Center offers wide variety of aid
West Fort Hill – Life in a small town is – to many of us – a blessing.
But at times, it can be a challenge financially, physically and emotionally.
Some of us are blessed with family, neighbors and our local church, or maybe all three. One thing you can always count on in the community is that there is always someone who is willing to give you a hand up when you are at your lowest.
If you have never encountered hardship, be thankful; if you have encountered hardship and received help, you are blessed.
Blessings are meant to be shared and at Five Points Center, the staff goes above and beyond when it comes to sharing with others.
Five Points Center pours love into the community by providing not only encouragement and food support to families that are experiencing personal hardship, but resources to educate community members and help them become more marketable in the workforce.
For example, the center offers a Digital Inclusion Class to residents who need to brush up or need an introduction to the internet, for work or education.
The center provides computers and internet access to those who do not have the service in their home. It is also a safe place for children to do homework.
The center also offers re-entry workforce programs, as well as supplies for the unhoused in the community.
There are currently two participants in recovery that are working on-site, receiving competitive wages, and an opportunity to gain confidence and self-worth as they seek to get their lives on track.
Five Points Center also has seven part-time employees on-hand during normal operating hours.
There are classes on food and nutrition, food distribution boxes for the financially strained and seniors over 60; healthy lifestyle assistance, HIV and HEPC Testing, domestic violence support through the REACH program; harm-reduction support; Vecinos (wellness checkups and primary care); and MedAssist for prescription medication – just to name a few.
The staff works to fulfill the urgent, physical, educational, social and economic needs of Graham County – and the center is succeeding.
The innovative projects and programming opportunities the center brings to the residents of the county will not only strengthen people and families, but the economy as well by using every resource available to educate and instill lasting values that hopes to break generations of poverty and unhealthy lifestyles.
Community Table
Grace Place, A Community Table is one of the services that is housed at Five Points Center.
Every Wednesday from 5-7 p.m., any individual or family that has a need can find a hot, home-cooked meal that is not only delicious, but also meets the nutritional guidelines that most impoverished families are unable to provide on their own.
Food boxes are dispersed twice a month on the second and fourth Wednesdays from 5-7 p.m. Boxes for seniors over 60 years of age are distributed once a month the second Wednesday from 11 am – 1 p.m.
The boxes are filled with nutritious surplus that can provide families with several complete meals. A pilot program, Healthy Opportunities Program is part of Medicaid expansion that provides food to clients with health needs such as diabetes, heart disease, high-blood pressure and other debilitating illnesses, and serves 90 clients.
Not only are clients provided with food, but the food is customized to the needs of the individual’s health. The center also provides emergency food boxes and financial means as needed.
Five Points Center is currently working to create a commercial kitchen space.
It also has potential to be used by community members looking for a certified kitchen for a cottage-industry home business.
Golden LEAF impact
More expansion is in the works. Community Outreach Director for Five Points Center Misty Shope recently met with members of health agencies in the county to discuss networking; while the Golden LEAF Foundation recently announced that the center would receive $105K from the N.C. General Assembly’s Food Distribution Assistance Program, which will go toward food lockers, cold storage, coolers, shelving, utility carts and shopping cards.
Elsewhere in the county, the Stecoah Valley Cultural Arts Center received $9,720 from the program for the following items: refrigerator, freezer, shelving units, stainless work tables, utility cards, hand truck and moving carts.
For details about Five Points Center, call 828-735-1215.
Publisher/editor Kevin Hensley also contributed to this feature.