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Fieldale Community Center Board President Billy Adkins, standing at far left, addresses the crowd Monday during a meeting in the community center’s gym. About 150 people attended the meeting, where possible sources of fudning for the center were discussed. (Bulletin photos by Mike Wray) |
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Tuesday, December 15, 2009
By PAUL COLLINS - Bulletin Staff Writer
An estimated 150 people attended a meeting Monday on the future of the Fieldale Community Center, a turnout officials called a strong showing of support.
The center is facing a drop in funding and volunteer assistance, its officials have said.
Although no decisions were made Monday on how the center will support itself in the future, several possibilities were discussed. Speakers also stressed the need for volunteers, and more than 20 people signed up to help.
One of the invited speakers was a representative of The Harvest Foundation. The foundation has provided funding to the center in the past, including two grants and help with strategic planning.
Jeffrey W. Mansour, senior program officer at Harvest, called the meeting’s turnout “really impressive” and said community support is one of the factors Harvest considers in whether to award a grant.
It also looks at such things as whether the organization has a vision and a plan for achieving that vision, what impact the project would have on the community and whether it is sustainable by the community, which includes community support, he said.
Larry Roach, a member of the community center’s board of directors, said the center has been operating on a “shoestring budget” since it lost funding from Fieldcrest Mills and Pillowtex.
Doug Stegall is a member of the Fieldale Heritage Festival Committee, which he said is under the umbrella of the community center board. He said Fieldcrest Mills built the community center in 1937 and maintained it, paid its staff and funded the operating costs for decades. That changed when the company closed. Fieldcrest was sold to Pillowtex, which closed in 2003.
Bill Adkins, president of the community center board, has said the center usually has a budget of about $130,000 a year, but this year it is operating on a budget of a little more than $100,000.
“We are in tough economic times ... and all organizations are having to cut back,” Roach said, adding, for example, United Way has been supportive of the center but is having to cut back.
Some of the things Roach said are needed or would enhance the community center are a therapeutic pool; repairs to existing pools; improvements to the building, including the need for more handicapped access; and more programs for seniors.
He mentioned the possibility of seeking additional help from Harvest, including professional assistance in applying for grants, not only from Harvest but other organizations.
But Roach stressed that the community has “to do our part ... do everything we can to keep the community center open.”
He said the community center is “the heart of the community” and if it closed or had to cut back operations, that could affect or eliminate the Festival of Lights and the Fieldale Heritage Festival.
The center also offers recreational and sports facilities and programs for youths and adults, as well as a senior room and a computer room. It has other community activities and is a site for the MHC After 3 Program, an after-school program for middle school students, officials said.
Debra Buchanan, chairman of the Henry County Board of Supervisors and Horsepasture District representative, sat with the center’s board during the meeting. She said, among other things, that the community center is the hub of Fieldale. The center was fortunate to have received support for years from the mills, she said, but times have changed, and the center has to keep up with the changes.
She said volunteers are the backbone needed to revitalize the community center, and that Harvest Foundation may be able to help the center determine what it can do to improve and update the building, offer more services to the community and ways to seek grant funds for much-needed improvements.
Mansour said Fieldale might be well-positioned for area recreational tourism efforts because of such things as the Fieldale Trail and the Smith River, and it might be positioned to work with the Phoenix Community Development Corp. for revitalization. The corporation is being formed to support revitalization in uptown Martinsville and surrounding areas.
He also said Harvest might be able to give advice to the center on applying for assistance.
Among those in the audience who spoke at the meeting:
• Stegall said that, according to an official with the Dan River Basin Association, about 31,000 people walked the Fieldale Trail last year. “People are coming to Fieldale. We just need more for them to do,” Stegall said.
• Virginia King of Martinsville said she thinks a professional staff person is needed for such things as applying for grants. She also asked if the community center could team up with the YMCA for services it offers.
• Brian Brown of Collinsville, whose family comes to the community center, said he would like more programs for children, and he suggested the possibility of busing in children.
• Nancy Kennett of Fieldale suggested that the center’s strategic plan be posted on its Web site so the public would know what it says. Adkins said he thought that was a good idea and that he thought it probably could be done. The Web site is www.fieldalecommunitycenter.org.
After the meeting, several officials, organizers, visiting speakers and attendees said they were pleased by the strong support shown by the community. |
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