Folsom Cordova Community Partnership Provides Supportive Services

RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - The mission of the Folsom Cordova Community Partnership (FCCP) is to enhance the education, health, and wellbeing of children, youth, and adults in the community. “Anywhere there is a need in the community, we seek to fill that gap,” said FCCP Executive Director Robert Sanger.

Operating both a Family Resource Center (10665 Coloma Rd., Ste. 200) and a Job Center (10826 Gadsten Way) in Rancho Cordova allows FCCP to provide targeted resources that will have the most impact for community members in need.

The Family Resource Center offers a wide variety of community support services such as legal assistance, general counseling, domestic violence counseling, housing referrals, baby supplies, assistance with Medi-Cal and Covered California eligibility and applications, family activities, and more. Families can also participate in Effective Parenting workshops and the Birth & Beyond Home Visitation program through FCCP’s Family Resource Center. FCCP can even help people access free cell phones and low-cost internet.

At the Job Center, customers can access job search assistance, professional skills training, assistance with resume preparation and interviewing skills, job-training scholarships, career planning, and connections to local employers. The Job Center also offers employment support for youths and refugees.

As a local non-profit, FCCP works to identity the most critical needs, often providing participants with basic needs such as food, clothing, and financial assistance. In addition to providing direct access to resources, FCCP has developed many community partnerships, so they can coordinate with other non-profit agencies and refer citizens to other resources as needed.

All of the services offered by FCCP are free to participants. To finance the wide variety of supportive programs, FCCP receives funding from federal, state, and local county and city grants. Because grants often have specific guidelines for how the funds can be used, some programs have income eligibility requirements. That’s why FCCP also relies on private donations in order to enhance the services they offer. Sanger explained that private donations “allow us to be more nimble and responsive to the community when needs crop up.” While grant monies are the financial foundation of the organization’s services, Sanger described the unrestricted funds as “critical.”

The COVID-19 pandemic presented a new challenge for FCCP to continue services while protecting the health of staff and participants. With the first stay-at-home order last March, Sanger had to make the difficult call to temporarily shut down both the Family Resource Center and the Job Center, shifting into a remote work environment.  FCCP staff had to quickly change from face-to-face engagement to providing their services virtually.  They reopened the centers in an extremely limited capacity in May, but only for those who are truly unable to access the services online. Sanger said that the pandemic “changed the way we outreach to families and engage with families. We have to meet families where they are, in a different way.”

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the community have been “severe,” said Sanger, making FCCP’s services even more essential. With such high rates of unemployment, the need for job search support has increased considerably. FCCP also helps people navigate the process of applying for unemployment benefits and getting their claim submitted as quickly as possible.

“The need for safety net services has increased exponentially,” said Sanger. With many people out of work, families are behind on rent and struggling to put food on the table. People who have never sought supportive services in the past are now in need. A few months into the pandemic, FCCP saw a 600% increase in requests for concrete supports like food, diapers, and money for rent and bills. The increase has now risen to 1,000%. To meet this dramatic increase in need, FCCP actively sought emergency grant funds from the federal and state governments, securing close to $1 million in funding—most of which is going straight to community members. “It’s still not meeting all the needs,” said Sanger, “but it’s making an impact for some.”

FCCP is using some of that funding to operate one of Sacramento County’s free COVID testing sites, at the Cordova Neighborhood Church (10600 Coloma Rd. in Rancho Cordova). Appointments can be scheduled through the website at https://folsomcordova.setmore.com/.

Sanger described FCCP’s work as “seeing that gap and being willing to step into that space for our community.” Even in the midst of a pandemic, FCCP is stepping up to bring the most critical services to those in the most need.

For more information, or to donate, visit www.theFCCP.org.