By By Lisa Tindell – news reporter
The Hope Place in downtown Brewton is a family resource center lucky enough to obtain some resources of its own.
Greg Smith, field director of the Children's Trust Fund, made a visit to the center Monday to present a $65,000 grant check to Vicki Fussell, Hope Place director.
The Children's Trust Fund is a division of the Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention. The Hope Place is a family resource center that offers a variety of services for children and adults.
Fussell gave the founder of the program credit for having foresight into the needs of the community.
The Hope Place partners with schools, lawyers and the Department of Human Resources to provide needed services on a variety of levels to children and parents in need.
Fussell said a variety of programs and groups provide services throughout the area that make duplications of service difficult to avoid.
Smith agreed that duplicating services should be avoided as much as possible.
Fussell said the $65,000 grant funds will be used the pay for day-to-day expenses of the center as well as fund an after-school learning center at Brewton Middle School. The funds also help with the provision of family support and parent education programs The Hope Place oversees.
Other staff members at The Hope Place include ShaBarba Williams and Traci Hughes as well as part-time staff members.