PROGRAMS & SERVICES OVERVIEW

The programs listed below are the services of the Community Service Center. They provide emergency financial assistance and support programs for families in need. For more information call 407-851-5920 or to send us an e-mail at csc@cscfl.com.

Emergency Assistance

The Community Service Center serves qualified families who have had an unforeseen emergency with the financial help they need to pay their rent, mortgage or utility payments. This is one time help that enables the family to survive a crisis. This program serves families in Osceola and Orange Counties. For information, please call the Center at 407-851-5920

Clothes Closet

The Center operates a Clothes Closet for families in the tri-county area who are in need of good used clothing and household goods. Service is by appointment and the clothes are free of charge. Please call for an appointment at 407-851-5920.

Food Pantry

For Central Florida families and individuals in need of food during a crisis, the Community Service Center maintains a Food Pantry. Service is by appointment. Call 407-851-5920 for assistance.

Parenting Classes

Raising Responsible Children parenting classes are offered free of charge. Classes are held one night a week for three weeks. Held at the Center and at area schools, they are convenient for parents. They are also court approved. For the latest schedule or to register, call the Center at 407-851-5920.

The Community Service Center is now offering the Parenting Without Pressure parenting class series developed by Teresa Langston. Held at various locations in the Central Florida area, these classes are aimed more toward parents of teenagers. They are also court approved. For information about costs, the latest schedule and to register, call the Center at 407-851-5920.

EYES

For families who have difficulty affording proper eye care, the Center operates the EYES program. Students are referred by school social workers to the Community Service Center. The Center works cooperatively with local optometrists and opticians to provide eye exams and glasses for low income families. For more information, contact the Center at 407-851-5920.

Magic Shoes

Properly fitting school shoes are important. Children cannot run and play without them. Students referred to the Community Service Center by school social workers. Qualified families are provided vouchers to Payless and Target to receive a new pair of shoes for their children. For more information, contact the Center at 407-851-5920.

Anger Management

Classes and support groups are offered in the area middle schools and high schools. Once a month on Saturday, there is an Anger Management class for adults. For a schedule, call the Center at 407-851-5920.

Back to School Program

Low income students in selected elementary schools in the South Learning Community of Orange County Schools receive backpacks and school supplies to start the new school year off ready for learning. Schools select and distribute the backpacks to qualified students. To learn of the 2006 participating schools, call the Center at 407-851-5920.

Read Write Now! Family Literacy Program

The Community Service Center’s Read Write Now! Family Literacy Program includes after-school and summer programs in low-income communities in west Winter Park and west Orlando. The program serves the literacy needs of children aged 5 – 15, as well as their parents. For more information, please call the Community Service Center at 407-851-5920.

HERO Program

The HERO Program recognizes those students and adults who make difficult decisions to help others. They demonstrate character and courage by their actions. Each year, the Community Service Center sponsors an awards breakfast to honor the heroes. To nominate an individual for this award, please contact the Center at 407-851-5920.

WorkOut

When a youth in foster care turns 18, he or she finds that they have aged out of the system, meaning they are no longer eligible for many previously provided benefits and services. Workforce of Central Florida and the Community Service Center have partnered to provide important assistance to this group of young people by creating the WorkOut program. Also, funded by a grant from Dr. Phillips, Inc. this program provides former foster care youth with a direct path to education and employment, two important ingredients for a successful life.
If you know a youth that has left the foster care system that could benefit from the WorkOut program or you want to get involved, contact Jessica Lindquist, Director of Employment, at 407-851-5920 or by email at jlindquist@cscfl.com.

Steps to Success

Foster care youth have a journey that will never be easy and often times help is needed to to assist them in their struggle to survive and achieve self-sufficiency. Such factors are sources of inspiration in in the Community Service Center's work for change.

With funding from the Dr. Phillips Foundation, Steps to Success is one of the Community service Center's innovative programs that serves foster care youth between the ages of 13 - 25 in Orange and Osceola counties. Foster care youth often face multiple barriers in their journey toward self sufficiency. It is the goal of the Community Service Center to equip each youth with the skills necessary to not only survive, but to thrive in society! We encourage each youth to evaluate their skills and passions and then we assist them in developing a plan to reach and fulfill their ambitions. The program that facilitates this process is the Steps to Success Program.

The Steps to Success program is funded by the Dr. Phillips Foundation and serves foster youth between the ages of 13-25 in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties. Steps enables foster care youth to dramatically alter the direction of their lives by providing life skills, character development, and budgeting classes. Our participants have access to a computer lab for research, resume help, homework assignments and email & internet access. The program incorporates Life Skills, Employability skills, Financial Management, Health & Nutrition, Mentoring, and Volunteerism, in order to prepare participants for financial self-sufficiency and independence. Contact Courtney Reynolds, Steps to Success Program Coordinator, at 321-206-1597 or by email at creynolds@cscfl.com for enrollment information.

Youth Advisory Council

The Community Service Center welcomes Leanne Bestwick, YAC Program Administrator for the  Youth Advisory Council (YAC).  The YAC is comprised of older foster care youth, as well as those who are transitioning out of the system. The local Foster Care Transition Coalition, of which the Center is a member, had been very interested in the creation of the Council as a way to obtain feedback from young clients for program design and implementation. Their input would establish a sense of ownership and provide important direction for the type of services that would best meet their needs. Thanks to a generous grant from the Darden Restaurants Foundation, the input from YAC members will be  a reality.

The Youth Advisory Council is a welcome addition to the other Community Service Center programs, WorkOUT and Steps to Success, both are designed to help foster care youth meet the challenges of living in today’s world. For more information, contact Leanne Bestwick at 407.851.5920 or lbestwick@cscfl.com
YAC Fact sheet (pdf)

Other

• AA meetings are held every day at noon and on the weekends.
• Orange County Public Schools holds classes for speakers of other languages (ESOL) twice a day during the school year.
• Foster Grandparents holds training's at the Center once a month.
• The Christian Motorcycle Association meets once a month at the Center.
• There are line dancing classes.
• A Hispanic church holds worship services in the Center.