This family resource center that helped Pierce County kids for 30 years has closed

A nonprofit that provided diapers, food and other services for families in need on the Key Peninsula has closed the doors to its center there after nearly 30 years.

Akin, which used to operate as the Children’s Home Society of Washington on Key Peninsula , had run the Key Peninsula Family Resource Center since 1995.

The nonprofit closed its operations there April 30.

“As an organization deeply committed to delivering high quality resources and services to children and families, we have encountered challenges in maintaining the quality and consistency of our operations on Key Peninsula,” Akin spokesperson Kristen Conte told The News Tribune via email May 2. “Challenges related to staffing and sustainable funding have prompted a decision for Akin to transition away from Key Peninsula and transfer the resources and services to other local organizations to best serve the residents of the peninsula.”

The center at 17010 S. Vaughn Road was a place where families in need could get basic supplies, such as hygiene products. It also offered parenting and life skills classes, and referrals for financial assistance with rent and utilities.

Asked for further details about the financial realities the organization faced that led to the closure, Conte wrote: “The rationale behind the ultimate decision centered around us experiencing underfunding that was amplified by the pandemic.”

Conte said the center had the equivalent of 1.5 full-time employees, and that they served more than 100 families a year.

“While this decision was undoubtedly a difficult one, it allows us to refocus our efforts and explore new ways to better serve children and families across Washington State,” Conte wrote. “... the transition to community partners is currently being headed up by Tacoma Pierce County Health Department and Pierce County Councilmember Robyn Denson who chairs the KP Kids Coalition. Many of those partners have already picked up services and TPCHD will be putting out an RFP for other agencies to pick up the pieces they support.”

A health department spokesperson wasn’t immediately available Friday to provide specifics about that transition and what a timeline for the request for proposal might look like.

Denson told The News Tribune Friday that, in the meantime, a good stop for families looking for services is her Key Peninsula District Office, which shares space with various community organizations . The address is 9013 Key Peninsula Highway NW, Lakebay, WA 98349.

She said the Family Resource Center Akin ran helped residents register for Apple Health, referred residents to parenting programs, connected families in need with food and diapers, and offered general information and referrals.

Denson said she thinks the typical grant for the organizations that run family resource centers in Pierce County is $60,000 a year.

“We know how to stretch a dollar,” on the Key Peninsula, she said.

Beyond the core functions that family resource centers are tasked with in Pierce County, she said the Key Peninsula location also did back-to-school events to distribute clothing and school supplies.

They also had a drop-in parent play group. A local preschool co-op has taken that on for free, Denson said, to keep it going.

“The community has really come together,” she said.

Molly Archer, chief operating officer for Associated Ministries, said Key Peninsula Community Services is helping residents apply for rental, mortgage and utility payment assistance. Associated Ministries is the administrator of the local board that distributes those Federal Emergency Management Agency funds as part of the National Emergency Food and Shelter program.

Archer said a member of the local board, Marilee Hill-Anderson, helped connect with Denson after they learned March 27 that Akin would not be able to distribute the funds for Key Peninsula residents this year. They used to get $15,000 for rental and mortgage assistance, and $10,000 for utility payment assistance on the Key Peninsula.

The solution the board came up with is to have residents in need contact Key Peninsula Community Services for assistance this year, and Key Peninsula Community Services will tell Associated Ministries where to send the checks for those overdue bills.

“We will write the check and send it out to pay those past due bills,” Archer said.

Next year, Key Peninsula Community Services can apply to distribute the funds directly. That gives them time to learn how the “record keeping-intensive program” works, Archer said.

The arrangement means residents in need won’t have to face transportation challenges, such as a traveling to Tacoma, to get help.

“The more we can keep services local,” the better, Archer said.