Catholic Charities Diocese of Nashville has opened a fourth family resource center, this time in Cookeville.
Catholic Charities Diocese of Nashville Executive Director Judy Orr said the Family Resource Center is a one-stop shop for mental health services and hunger needs. Orr said one of the most important aspects of the services is long-term case management.
“It’s not just about helping somebody in a one-off emergency,” Orr said. “This is really about engaging with someone in need to try and get at the root causes of what has created their problem in the first place so that we can provide a longer term support.”
Orr said the Family Resource Center will have professionals to assist people who are struggling with everyday challenges. Orr said she hopes the Family Resource Center will have a big impact in the Cookeville Community.
“It really starts with people who have an initial need, and it could be I just got laid off from a job and I gotta pay my rent while im in the process of finding a new job,” Orr said. “And that’s not an uncommon way that we might first meet with people. Then we find out that gosh, they got a lot of challenges and they don’t have sustainable employment, and we really need to help them get some skills training or whatever that might move them along. They may have complicated family situations, and we can help with that.”
Orr said opening a Family Resource Center in Cookeville was part of a plan the charity formed back in 2020.
“We stratgeized about how best to expand our services into rural counties,” Orr said. “And so Cookeville is the fourth of four our Family Resource Centers that are in rural counties. We are also in Coffee County, which is Tullahoma, We are in Murray County, Colombia, and we are also in Clarksville, Montgomery County, and so this was that northeast corner of our territory that we were striving to get to.”
Orr said the charity helps the Middle Tennessee region as there mission is following the Christ example and serving neighbors. Orr said the Family Resource Center serves all faith traditions. The newly opened Family Resource Center is located at the St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 421 N. Washington Ave., in Cookeville.
