The Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Little Rock
On Easter Sunday, March 23, 2008, a fire destroyed most of the Cargill meat-processing plant in Booneville. In a city of approximately 4,000 people, the plant's 800 employees were immediately out of work.
Within a week of the fire, a new interfaith agency was created -- the Family Resource Center for South Logan County.
The idea for the center came "from the ashes of the fire," said Father Don Tranel, GHM, pastor at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Booneville. "And the Family Resource Center will live on."
The Booneville Ministerial Fellowship, a group of various local churches, came together to form this center. The center's initial purpose was to help the community get through the crisis.
In the 19 months the center has been open, it has provided some kind of assistance to more than 1,000 different families, said Roger Coffman, the center's director and a member of Booneville First Assembly of God Church.
"We try to help people get through the crisis, and then get on with their lives," Coffman said.
The center offers job placement assistance, runs a food pantry and helps with housing and utilities.
"We try to be a one-stop place for people to find answers," Coffman said. "There are a lot of resources out there, but people don't realize they're available."
Although the immediate crisis of the fire is over, the area continues to struggle with economic problems.
"It's about like it is everywhere -- there are not near enough jobs," Coffman said. "The need is greater now than it was this time last year."
Even before the fire almost 18 percent of the population lived in poverty, Coffman said.
In May 2008 the Cargill company, once Logan County's largest employer, decided not to rebuild the plant. Many employees were left with few local options.
Some of the people who lost jobs last year now work in the Fort Smith area, with the Tyson and Wayne Farms chicken processing plants having the most former Cargill employees.
Despite these problems, Booneville's population does not seem to have changed much, said Jerry Wilkins, the city's mayor. Rockline Industries, a plant that produces wet wipes, has hired 120 people, school enrollment has stayed about the same, and there aren't many houses for sale, Wilkins said.
"At last count only 25 families have moved away. The ones that stayed have family or ties to the area," Coffman said.
The center continues to have between 45 and 50 families come for food help each month, and 20 to 30 people come in for help finding jobs, he said.
The closest unemployment office is in Fort Smith, approximately 45 minutes away, so the center has become an authorized SHARE (Sharing How Access to Resources Empowers Network) provider. This means the center has a computer to help people use Arkansas Job Link, a Web site run by the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services.
In addition to helping people struggling with financial problems, the center also serves the churches.
"It functions as a one-stop clearing house," Father Tranel said. "If someone comes to the door asking for help, Roger allows the ministers to give out his cell phone number."
"People know pastors don't have time to screen," Coffman said. "When a family comes to the center, we may spend an hour. They are going to get the help and ministry they need."
The center does work with local law enforcement to screen for drug or other criminal activity, he added.
"Sometimes we turn people down, if we feel like they're in a negative environment. But it's very seldom we turn people down for food," he said.
"When they want a life change, we talk to them," he said. "We want people to receive true help, not a handout."
To help with family issues, the center now provides educational materials from the National Fatherhood Institute, which encourages fathers to become more involved with their families.
When the center was formed, it received a $10,000 grant through Catholic Charities of Arkansas for the immediate disaster response. Sister Mary Lou Stubbs, DC, director of Catholic Charities, also provided advice as a consultant on a visit to the center last summer.
Now the agency's support goes through the local parish-based ministry team, she said.
"This parish has really responded to needs in its area," she said.
Currently a group of 12 local churches support the center, Coffman said.
"It's a testimony to Christian unity," Father Tranel said. "Many different churches come together and work as one."
Food donations come from the Arkan sas Rice Depot, local food banks, the USDA and food drives.
Parishioners at the local parishes, Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Booneville and St. Joseph Church in Paris, have "done a lot financially" for the center, he said.
After the fire, Our Lady of the Assumption donated 100 percent of one week's collection to the work of the center, Father Tranel said.
"The Catholic group in general has been a huge part of what we've done," Coffman said.
Father Tranel has served as a member of the center's board and has helped translate for Spanish-speaking people at the center. Brother David Henley, GHM, of Waldron, has also volunteered as a translator.
Our Lady of the Assumption parishioners have given their time, too, particularly when the center opened.
"Early on, a lot of our families would volunteer hours," Father Tranel said. "Our people were on the front line."
One of these parishioners was Joan Simon. Along with her husband, Jim, and her son John, Simon helped in the center's food pantry from April through October 2008.
"Father Don wanted our church to be involved. We were available, and we jumped at the opportunity," she said.
Right after the fire when the need for food assistance was greatest, the Simons would pack 60 to 80 boxes of food in a day.
"I just felt like it was really important to help people," she said.
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