MANCHESTER — Family Resources, a nonprofit organization that provides services for prevention and treatment of child and domestic abuse, has moved its preschool and central office to the Northside.
The organization’s therapeutic preschool moved into 1300 Western Ave., formerly occupied by Pittsburgh Community Television, while its administrative offices moved into the Cardello Building, 701 North Point Dr. Previously Family Resources operated out of 1425 Forbes Ave. in Uptown.
Aimee Kolick, Family Resources’ Executive Director, told The Chronicle that the move will significantly expand the size of the preschool and provide greater convenience to both the organization’s staff and clients.
“This room is maybe a little smaller than our entire building in Uptown,” Kolick said, referring to just one of the classrooms at the preschool’s new location.
With the new location, the school will have access to conference rooms for meeting with parents, separate break rooms for staff (who previously would eat their lunches alongside students), more space in the classrooms for students, and access to outdoor areas, including a playground.
The Cardello Building’s many amenities — including cafe, gym, massage services and other factors — were especially enticing to Family Resources as being beneficial to employees.
“Our culture at Family Resources is staff being first,” Kolick said, mentioning that the organization takes an interest in workers practicing self care and feeling appreciated.
There is also an economic benefit to the move. Joshua Cramer, Family Resources’ Director of Development, said the organization will be paying “half the price” compared to the lease at its former spot. Kolick added that staff and clients often struggled to find parking around the Forbes building, something that won’t be a problem with the Western Avenue and Cardello Building’s dedicated parking spaces.
Family Resources plans to hold a reception at its new location at some point in the future. The organization plans to join the Northside | North Shore Chamber of Commerce.
“It seems like it’s the perfect place to engage the community here,” said Cramer.
Family Resources is looking for Northside businesses or groups who may want to partner with the organization for field trips or other student activities. Anyone interested in doing so should contact Cramer, at [email protected].
History and services
Family Resources got its start in East Liberty in 1986, and moved to the Forbes location 13 years ago. The organization offers prevention, intervention and treatment services in the fields of child abuse and trauma.
The therapeutic preschool caters to children dealing with a variety of mental health diagnoses or are healing from trauma, with many being nonverbal or dealing with other behavioral issues.
“A lot of our kids have been thrown out of other preschools,” Kolick said.
The school can enroll up to 30 children (up from 25 at the previous location), with a teacher-to-student ratio of one to five. The students’ classrooms offer a variety of sensory experiences, a “calm down corner” and the school employs a service dog, named Mac, who assists in a variety of ways, whether that is helping a kid calm down or providing a ready listener for them to practice reading.
The school is working to prepare its current class of students for the move. Kids are being shown pictures of the new location, and a multi-handle leash was acquired to enable Mac to lead multiple students around the building.
For more information about Family Resources, visit familyresources.org, call (412) 363-1702 or email [email protected].
