Headquartered in Tucson, Child & Family Resources was founded as a non-profit organization in 1970 as the Tucson Child Care Association. Today, the organization has 13 locations throughout Arizona, including offices in Bullhead City, Kingman, and Lake Havasu City. “At Child & Family Resources, we build strong communities where children can reach their full potential,” says the nonprofit’s mission statement. “We do this with effective prevention and education strategies for families, adolescents and early educators.”
Child & Family Resources opened an office in Havasu in 2018 and has served as the home of the Healthy Families program serving both Havasu and Parker.
“We are focused on supporting parents and their parent-child relationships,” said Consuelo Ramirez, program supervisor at Havas. “We provide the resources and tools to help them succeed.”
Ramirez said support can come in the form of supplies that babies and young children need, from diapers to formula. The program also offers developmental screenings for children and a range of educational services for parents. Ramirez said the program includes curriculum for almost everything about being a parent, including child safety, home safety, food, and nutrition.
Kingman’s Child and Family Resource Office also hosts a Quality First program that provides coaching support to childcare centers throughout Mojave County, Ramirez said. She said the Quality First program regularly visits her Havasu office to manage the program locally.
According to Ramirez, the Havasu Healthy Family Program consistently serves approximately 50 to 60 Havasu and Parker families. However, the $40,239 grant awarded by Lake Havasu City will be retained by Havasu and is expected to reach far beyond Child & Family’s current clients.
“We just want to be the liaison between available ARPA funds and community members,” said Joe Harper, Director of Healthy Family Programs for Mojave, La Paz and Coconino Counties. “It would be great if they happen to be part of our program, but it’s not just for our program participants. We will have office hours open to the public. We also accept referrals from , food banks, and other organizations that know there is funding available for this type of thing.”
Harper said he plans to use the grant to provide diapers, formula, baby wipes, hygiene products and other infant care products to young families in need.
“Having a baby is stressful in itself and has an added burden that it can provide financially,” Ramirez said. “Some families live paycheck to paycheck. may have no income or are struggling, so we want to provide relief to those families.”
Harper said the grant will also be available to help those in need of transportation through prepaid travel vouchers and gas cards.
“They may have trouble getting to doctor’s appointments, picking up boxes from the food bank, or struggling to get to work,” Ramirez said. It’s something we want to alleviate, not just for the families we work with, but for the entire community.
Harper said transportation vouchers will be offered to everyone who needs them, not just young families.
Child & Family Resources’ Havasu grant application originally called for $288,864, but after the Community Resource Coalition recommended awarding the grant to other higher-scoring applicants, the $1 million available. Only $40,239 of the dollar grant remained.
“We were happy to get it,” Harper said.
Child & Family Resources plans to set regular weekly office hours for the grant after the organization actually receives the grant from the city, Harper said. She said she has received referrals from other community organizations such as River Cities United Way and food banks, but anyone in need of any of the services they offer can call 928-715-2986. You can contact the Havas office.
