Community Resource Center in new building with more to offer
Family Specialist Marie Masters of K’STAR Youth and Family Services is ready to meet with people in her office at the new Community Resource Centers of Texas building in Marble Falls. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
With the official opening of the new Community Resource Centers of Texas complex in Marble Falls, Burnet County residents now truly have a one-stop shop for many needed resources.
The facility, located at 1016 Broadway in Marble Falls, opened Monday, Jan. 4. It houses offices for government agencies and local nonprofits that provide services to residents.
CRC of Texas Executive Director Donna Klaeger explained that having all of these services under one roof allows clients to more easily connect with the programs they need, and some they might not even know exist. When someone uses one of the services at a Community Resource Center, they often need support from another.
“If they’re visiting the Pregnancy and Life Center, they need food. So, we’ll walk that person to The Helping Center (food pantry), and we’ll ask, ‘What else do you need?’” Klaeger said. “Most of them need gas cards or prescriptions. We’ll walk them to where they can find those services. And, it’s only going to grow because everyone will be in the same vicinity.”
Currently located at the CRC of Texas’ Marble Falls facility are The Helping Center of Marble Falls, Pregnancy and Life Center (formerly the Highland Lakes Pregnancy Resource Center), AARP, Opportunities for Williamson and Burnet Counties, Community Action, Workforce Solution Rural Capital Area, and K’STAR Youth and Family Services as well as space for a number of state and federal agencies.
And, the center has room for more.
The CRC’s Marble Falls facility also has a half-dozen “walk-through offices” or rooms for nonprofits that need space, even if just for a meeting. The building has modern technology and Wi-Fi throughout.
Previously, the Marble Falls CRC was in the smaller T.Q. Brown Building, located adjacent to the new complex, and temporarily at a spot on Avenue N during construction of the new building.
Klaeger credited Mark Mayfield, CEO of the Texas Housing Foundation, for his leadership and vision on this project. The Community Resource Centers of Texas — which has locations in Burnet, Blanco, Llano, and Williamson counties — falls under the housing foundation’s umbrella.
As he stood in the conference room, Mayfield called it the “rebirth of the Community Resource Center.”
The idea for a resource center started more than two decades ago when Mayfield was on the Marble Falls City Council. He recalled how leaders of local nonprofits would request funds from the city for their organizations. That got him wondering how much of their budgets was going toward their goals and missions versus operating expenses.
“That’s when the wheels started turning for a resource center in my mind,” he said.
“You put facilities where people are and find out what kinds of needs they have and find people to provide them,” Klaeger said.
Mayfield agreed.
“There’s not a need in Burnet County that can’t be met here,” he said. “If you come through those doors, we can help you.”
To reserve space free of charge, nonprofits should call site director Dawn Capra at 830-693-0700. The Community Resource Center in Marble Falls is open 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.