From free vision and hearing screenings for children to CPR certification training for adults, the new East County Family Resource Center has something for everybody.
The Children’s Board made the decision to open a center in Plant City after it saw a need in eastern Hillsborough County.
“There were a lot of people from this area going to our Brandon location and there were other areas around that weren’t being reached,” said Marcia Cedano, center manager for the East County Family Center, located in the shopping center behind Walmart next to Beverly’s Consignment.
The East County location opened its doors Oct. 1, 2012, and is the newest of six Family Resource Centers throughout Hillsborough County. The Healthy Start Coalition of Hillsborough County administers the Children’s Board Family Resource Centers, and Champions for Children manages the East County location.
The center provides family services at no cost. Services include parental classes and developmental play groups.
“We’re here for both the children and the parents to learn and grow,” Cedano explained. In January, Baby Bungalow began offering child-development services at the center.
Trained facilitators lead those classes. Programs include Baby and Me, a five-week developmental playgroup for infants that targets free exploration and play, as well as caregiver/child bonding.
Little Amigos, which Cedano said is one of the more popular programs at the center, is a five-week program for 2- to 4-year-olds that exposes English-speaking children to Spanish through music, singing, rhymes and other activities.
“It’s like an interactive ‘Dora the Explorer’ learning program,” Cedano noted.
The center also offers parental classes, including CPR and first aid training. A hands-on car-seat safety program is also offered. During this class, parents learn how to pick the appropriate car seat and correctly secure it.
“We even will provide families with a car seat after taking the class,” Cedano said.
Before the center began offering programs, it offered services, including vision and hearing screenings. Prevent Blindness Florida provides vision screenings for children ages 2 to 18 and hearing screenings for newborns to 18-year-olds.
“The first time we offered hearing screenings, we had 12 kids, and eight had ear infections, some of which were severe,” Cedano said. “This just shows how much these services were needed in this area.”
Cedano said preventative dental services are already offered at some centers in the county and will be offered at the East County location soon. Nutrition classes teaching healthy eating habits are currently offered.
Children who are uninsured and on Medicaid can receive free immunizations and school physicals by appointment with the Mobile Health Clinic.
Mobile clinic services is something that Cedano said was addressed as a need in this area, because some clients in outlining rural areas such as Dover and Beesville have no way to get to the centers.
“This gives us the opportunity to refer people and provide outside service to those areas that need them,” Cedano said.
The East County center also offers a computer lab for children and adults for educational and professional use.
“We have adults come in to apply to jobs, and students who may not have a computer at home come in to use ours to do homework,” Cedano said.
According to Cedano, all services and programs are provided at no charge and are available to anyone, no matter financial standing.
“We are all about taking care of the well-being of the child and instructing the parents on how to do that in the best way,” she said.
East County Family Resource Center
Address: 639 Alexander St., Plant City; Behind Walmart in shopping plaza
Phone: 813-752-8700
Services: Parental classes, mobile clinic services, car-seat safety, computer access, vision and hearing screenings, developmental play groups and CPR and first aid certification
Cost: All services provided free of charge
Web: familysupporthc.org