NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (WKBW) — On Thursday the Niagara Falls City School District's Family Resource Center opened at the Bloneva Bond Primary School on Niagara Street. The center offers a one-stop shop for students, and their families to get food, clothing, toiletries, and services.
Donations are being accepted ahead of the new school year, from non-perishable food, toiletries, and clothing. If you have a child in the Niagara Falls City School District and need access to the resources, you can call the district at (716)-286-4211
"If the school doesn’t step in then we’re having meetings with parents about students behavior," explained Jamie Schmidt-Fasso, a district social worker who helps run the resource center. "Maybe the kids are getting bullied, because maybe they have odor, because they don’t have ability to wash their clothes. It all impacts their success in school."
This resource center looks to give families the help they need to set students up for success. Schmidt-Fasso said the room also serves as a safe space for families to ask for help.
"This is really the hub of a place in Niagara Falls that has a lot of socio-economic need," said Niagara Falls City School District Superintendent Mark Laurrie, who said there are 408 students in the district who are considered homeless. Laurrie said he has never seen a number that high.
In the 14303 zip code of Niagara Falls, the median household income is just$39,000.
"A lot of [students] have social or emotional things going on at home," said Kashara Ashley, a social worker at Niagara Falls High School. "I was that kid I had things going on at home, and there was no one for me to talk to about it so I like to be that resource for kids."
Ashley grew up in Niagara Falls and said she lived in housing projects growing up with her mom in Niagara Falls. Ashley is now using her past to help the students whose shoes she was once in.
"I have families, over summer break, messaging me asking if we can come deliver food to them," explained Ashley. "Our students constantly need clothes and toiletries."
Schmidt-Fasso said the more we know about families, the more the district can help.
