Community Center reaches out

Photo by clare jensen

Seven months after the opening of the community center at Mountain View Lutheran Church in Edgewood, organizers are continuing to provide services and support to the surrounding area.

Recently, Mountain View Community Center hosted a Back To Summer resource fair for families at the campus June 11.

Working in conjunction with Good Samaritan Hospital’s mobile health services and Puyallup, Sumner and Fife school districts, the resource fair attempted to get families ready to start their summers by providing free immunizations and information about free and low-cost summer activities for youth and families.

Jesie Holden, community center coordinator, hoped that by offering immunizations, which incoming kindergarteners and sixth-graders are required to have, at the beginning of the summer, it would take the burden off of immunization providers right before school begins.

“A lot of times people wait until the very last minute to get them right before school starts,” Holden observed. “Then they end up having to wait for five hours to get their shots.”

She thought by coupling a free-immunization event early on with a bevy of summer resources, families would be able to check one thing off their to-do list, and head full force into an enjoyable summer.

While the turnout for the Back To Summer event was lower than expected – four families attended and 15 shots were administered – Holden said a Back To School event and possible clothing drive are in the works for later this summer.

Ongoing Service

With roots as a food bank, the community center has been serving an average of 2,000 individuals each month since the restructured bank opened in November 2008. About 85 people a week attend the center’s free community Thursday dinners, which were started more than a month ago.

“We get a good variety of people at the dinners,” Holden said. “People come up from the food bank, lonely singles, church members… it’s been going really great.”

Kid Reach, a free after-school mentoring and tutoring program, also  started earlier this year. Tutors work with students from Mountain View Elementary School one afternoon a week. Next school year the center will double the number of students served by adding an afternoon of operation. More volunteers will be needed in the coming months.

Check in with the community center for upcoming events, resources and volunteer opportunities during the summer. Contact the community center at (253) 826-4329.

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