ALBEMARLE — Stanly County’s public school district is rolling out its promotion of the North Carolina Community Resource Center.
At the Stanly County Board of Education’s meeting earlier this month, Lydia Hedrick, assistant superintendent of human resources for Stanly County Schools, hosted a department presentation where she spoke about the free online tool that connects individuals and families with social and health services.
The resource center is available to access online at helpnorthcarolina.findhelp.com.
Empowered by the healthcare consultancy Truusight and the TruuCONNECT initiative, the NC Community Resource Center offers assistance in the form of free or reduced-cost medical care, food assistance, job training, and housing support.
The project currently supports Stanly and Cabarrus counties, with the overall aim of expanding to all 100 counties in the state.
“The goal of the North Carolina Community Resource Center is to help us as the employer to support the wellbeing of our workforce,” Hedrick said. “We also have the added advantage of being a school system and to share that support with all of the families that we serve as well. As we learned about it and really dug into it with the company that’s offering it, we learned it’s not just for our employees and that it’s going to benefit the whole community.”
Hedrick noted that the resource center has statistics showing that 44% of American households struggle to afford basic necessities such as food, housing, clothing, and medical care.
The center also estimates that 75% of Americans with an untreated substance use disorder are in the workforce.
In a press release put out by Truusight on Jan. 15, company CEO Jonathan Ferguson offered his view of the resource center as a centralized hub made possible by the support of the NC Department of Health and Human Services and the state’s legislative leadership.
“Our shared vision is to empower communities with tools to thrive, removing barriers and creating connections that lead to lasting change,” Ferguson said. “The NC Community Resource Center is not just a regional effort — it’s a blueprint for what communities across the state can achieve through visionary leadership and collaboration.”
The scope and reach of the resource center will evolve as it captures user analytics that are confidential and could lead to community help through additional state funding.
School Board Member Glenda Gibson said she is appreciative of the program and the behind-the-scenes training that has been done for its rollout.
“Sometimes I don’t think we realize what our staff could be facing with their needs, as well as children or anyone else in that community,” Gibson said. “I really do think about it with our personnel and our staff. I’m thankful that you put everything together. I’m thankful for the training that is being done. I also have been in contact with other surrounding school systems that are getting on board with this as well.”
The Stanly County Board of Commissioners will hold its next regular meeting on April 1 at 6:15 p.m. in the Gene McIntyre Meeting Room at Stanly County Commons.