IT BEGAN WITH A PASSING COMMENT…

In October of 2009, the Georgetown Church of Christ held its annual Fall Festival in the Riverside neighborhood, east of Georgetown.

As part of the follow-up to the Festival, the director mentioned in passing to the manager of this large mobile home community that it would be nice if there were a community center. That got the ball rolling. After some lengthy negotiations, a used double-wide trailer was designated and repurposed for the community cen-ter. Part of the contract stated that the amenity would be free to the residents of the Riverside Mobile Home Community, that the church would pay basic utilities, RMHC would maintain ownership of the building and the church would retain management rights of the facility.

On June 6, 2010 the Riverside Resource Center held its official grand opening event and began daily operation.

WHAT’S GOING ON HERE…
The Riverside Resource Center (RRC) is designed to be whatever the residents of the community need for it to be. It houses the property manager’s office, a computer lab complete with restricted internet access, a large community room for general use, the RRC director’s office, and a kitchenette with refrigerator, microwave and storage. It has the latest A/V equipment in the community room and has Wi-Fi capabilities.

The RRC offers English lessons twice a week with both an a.m. and p.m. class.
Access to the internet with ample “open lab” time makes its use con-venient for those who wish to go online when it best suits them. Computer assistance is available.

The community room is available for reservations for private parties and is free to residents after leaving a security deposit.

Each Sunday morning a non-denominational community Bible Study is held.
Regularly scheduled family events are slated for the school year as well as mini seminars designed to meet concerns regarding specific issues pertinent to the needs of the residents, such as enrollment in social services. These are set up as requested by the residents.

OUR PARTNERS…
The RRC is partnered with organizations that meet the goals outlined in the mission statement and are committed to seeing this mission implemented. These include:

  • Georgetown Church of Christ
  • American Family Communities, LLC
  • Sight For Sore Eyes Foundation, Inc.
  • Georgetown ISD
  • GISD Partners In Education

Management of the RRC is maintained by the Georgetown Church of Christ and is currently served by an advisory board. That board includes Bill Painter, Bill Powell, Mark Babcock, Jonathan and Sheila Holland, Raegan and Michele Wall, John and Tracy Cottle and Enrique Najera.

A BRIGHT FUTURE…
The RRC has already been designated as a Helping Hands Tutoring site by the Georgetown ISD Partners in Educa-tion program for the 2010-2011 school year.

Additionally, programs that further support positive educational out-comes are in the works.
Grants are being sought, and funds to continue the pursuit of our mission statement are being procured.