Programs
The Milton Family Community Center was established after the receipt of a federal grant under the umbrella of Head Start in 1985. The Center was one of only fifteen centers in the United States to receive this funding.
In September 1985, we opened our rented doors in a house on Main Street in Milton next to the Catholic Church. The Milton Family Community Center developed the concept of a community center which would emphasize and encourage positive relationships between young children and parents through education and family support; create easier access to services for families by making them available at a central location within Milton; and encourage outreach and field work from Burlington-based agencies by offering them a place to work and coordinate activities at a satellite location within Milton to serve area residents. Soon after the startup of the center, it became an independent parent/child center governed by a Board of Directors consisting of community leaders, parents and collaborating agency representatives.
In the fall of 1987, the Center moved into its own building also on Main Street. This historic building, known as Austin's Hall, was over 120 years old and had been the hub of Milton's social and cultural life throughout much of its history, first as a hotel with a ballroom, and later as an Odd Fellows Hall, movie theater, and law office. The building had a large area for children on the ground level, space for administrative and staff offices, and one floor for use by agencies and other organizations. Initially, the Center provided Milton with parent/child playgroups, a pre-school known as "Tykes," parent education and support, and home visiting services.
In the late 1990s the Milton Family Community Center expanded its programs to include Healthy Babies and Welcome Baby services, along with the development of a Chittenden County interagency resource group known as PATCH. The Center also became a pilot site for the Vermont Department of Welfare's REACH UP program, welfare to work program for young mothers. Collaborations with Howard Mental Health, Woman, Infants, and Children (WIC), and Vermont Adult Learning were also initiated through on-site services at the Center. In 1997, the Center continued to increase funding and programming. Programs such as the Milton Community & Youth Coalition's Teen Services and MASK (Milton After School Kids) were added to the Center's repertoire of services. Also at this time, the Center instituted a support group called Grandparents as Parents for grandparents raising grandchildren or other family members.
With the Center's continued growth it became evident that the space on Main Street was becoming inadequate for meeting the needs of its growing and varied programs, as well as unsafe for the children, families and staff due to the age and the state of the building itself. Concurrently, the Board of Directors became aware that the old Villemarie Health building in Milton was for sale and made the decision to launch a capital campaign and apply for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) in order to purchase the building from Fletcher Allen Health Care. After a successful campaign and also being awarded the CDBG, the Center purchased and moved into its present home at 23 Villemaire Lane in July 2000.
Having laid out the groundwork while at the old location, the Center was able to introduce an "Infant/Toddler Childcare Program" to its lineup of services early in September 2000, as well as a new preschool located at and in collaboration with the Milton Elementary School. In 2001, the Center was awarded a state "EVEN START" grant to provide intensive family literacy services to adults and their children. Also in 2001, the Center became a site for on-line applications for families to apply for State services without having to travel to Burlington. In the fall of 2002, the Center began its third preschool, again in response to an increased need within the community.
Recently, the Center has chosen to collaborate with the Vermont State Housing Authority to provide child and family services in the Birchwood Manor trailer park, establishing another off-site program as they did with the Milton Elementary School.
"For every laughing, healthy, well-fed child or teen-ager who knows what it means to belong to a community, we thank her."
[Taken from an editorial titled, Wanda Viau 1935-2002, The Milton Independent, 11/14/02: Wanda Viau, A Community Leader and the MFCC Board President until her death in 2002.]