Family Outreach Community Center

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Family Outreach Community Center Family Outreach Community Center (FOCC) exists to improve the quality of life for residents of Henderson County, Illinois. Can you keep matters confidential?

Nutrition Services:
Food Pantry
Operation Backpack, in partnership with West Central CUSD #235
Community Garden
Nutrition Classes
Holiday Food Baskets

Parenting & Family Assistance Services:
Children’s clothes, maternity clothes, and personal hygiene items
Essential baby supplies
Provide school supplies and clothing to low-income students in need
Learning lessons, opportunities to learn new skills
Educational fliers for parents, in conjunction with Operation Backpack
Offer budgeting assistance and Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University Class discounts for low-income families
Parenting Expo

Employment Services/Career Development Services:
Career Closet, providing professional clothing for job interviews
Resume and cover letter assistance
Mock interviews
Job skills workshops and monthly Learning Lessons
Transportation to and from job interviews

Mentorship Program:
Mentorship: “The process of relationship building where an experienced individual assists another person to maximize their potential, develop their skills, improve their lives and become the person they want to be.”


Mentorship is an effective way of helping people progress and is a helpful relationship based upon mutual trust and respect. The relationship between mentor and mentee should be personal and confidential. A mentor should help the mentee to believe in herself and boost her confidence. A mentor should ask questions and challenge, while providing guidance and encouragement. A mentor can be defined as an experienced and trusted adviser. A good mentor will want to ensure that the mentee gains confidence and independence as a result of mentoring and is eventually able to go forward independently. Mentors are volunteers and are not expected to help more than one mentee at a time. The recruitment of good mentors is key to the success of the program:
Are you willing to help an individual or family develop and achieve success? Are you prepared to invest time and effort? Are you a good listener and able to encourage others? Are you interested in challenging and helping someone to reach further? Are you willing to share your personal knowledge and experiences? Program Structure:
All FOCC clients are welcome to participate as a mentee
Mentors and mentees are paired based on compatibility
Goals are established from the beginning by the mentee, with assistance from the mentor
Training and support in mentoring is provided by FOCC staff
Monthly mentor meetings occur as a group to discuss solutions to difficult situations

These potatoes may look a little quirky, but they know a good cause when they see one!🤓🥔They are NOT on the menu, but th...
10/15/2026

These potatoes may look a little quirky, but they know a good cause when they see one!🤓🥔
They are NOT on the menu, but they ARE here to remind you that Saturday night is the night to eat for a cause!
Join us for the Stronghurst-Carman-Smithshire United Methodist Church’s fundraiser for Family Outreach Community Center as we raise money for our new building!
🍽️ Saturday, October 17
Serving begins at 4:30
📍Stronghurst United Methodist Church
120 South Elizabeth Street
Come hungry, bring a friend, & help us get one step closer to our new home!💙

Help us help United Way of West Central Illinois fight hunger in our communities!👊This student-led food drive runs Octob...
10/15/2026

Help us help United Way of West Central Illinois fight hunger in our communities!👊
This student-led food drive runs October 5 through November 5. It’s an opportunity for students to lead, communities to come together, & for everyone to make an impact. Find a participating school near you & consider donating nonperishable food items to help support local families facing food insecurity.

Participating schools:
Carl Sandburg College
Galesburg High School
Mercer County High School
Monmouth College
Monmouth-Roseville High School
United High School
West Central CUSD 235

Thank you for helping us help others!💙

Discovering something new is the attribute to the dare hearted. Let us be more adventurous like Columbus.Family Outreach...
10/12/2026

Discovering something new is the attribute to the dare hearted. Let us be more adventurous like Columbus.
Family Outreach Communty Center will be closed on Monday, October 12th to commemorate Columbus Day. We will reopen on Tuesday, October 13 at 9 AM.
On Tuesday, we will also be visiting Midwest Food Pantry. Our trailer usually gets back between 2:30-3 if anyone is available to help us unload our food!
Thank you for helping us help others.💙

🚨FREE FRIDGE!🚨We’re looking for a new home for this old friend! This refrigerator has been part of our WCMS food pantry ...
10/06/2026

🚨FREE FRIDGE!🚨
We’re looking for a new home for this old friend!
This refrigerator has been part of our WCMS food pantry program, but the they recently received a new one through a grant. Rather than move this one to our current location & then have to move it AGAIN when we move into our new building, we’d love to give it a new home, FREE!
It’s used & older, but it still has some good miles left in it.
Garage? Basement? Man cave? Extra food storage? Hunting season? 🤷‍♀️😂
Will need to pick up at West Central Middle School in Stronghurst.
If you can use it, come get it!
We’ll have enough moving to do soon!💙

Family Outreach Community Center is FINALLY coming home!🎉After 15 years in the basement, Family Outreach Community Cente...
09/30/2026

Family Outreach Community Center is FINALLY coming home!🎉
After 15 years in the basement, Family Outreach Community Center has finally found OUR building! A place to put down our roots, grow, & continue serving our community for years to come!
📍 114 Broadway | Downtown Stronghurst
This is a new beginning.
For 15 years, we have welcomed people into a basement. We have filled grocery carts, handed out clothing, packed backpacks, prepared holiday meals, helped families, connected people with resources, & reminded our neighbors that they matter.
And now….we have a home of our own.
No more stairs for our guests.
We’ll have windows with sunlight coming in, a front door right on Broadway, & a place where we can continue to grow & serve right in the heart of our community.
We’ll be right outside our door for the Farmers Market. We’ll be part of Downtown Stronghurst in a whole new way. And we’re already dreaming about the possibilities of what this space can become.
But there is one person I can’t help but think about today.
Alicia.💜
Alicia founded Family Outreach Community Center in 2010 because she believed in helping & loving people. When I was worried I hadn’t learned all I could from her, she told me, “Julie, just love everybody.”
For 15 years, we’ve tried to do exactly that.
And I can’t help but believe that today, Alicia is looking down & smiling her big beautiful smile.
We finally found our home, Alicia.
The little community center that started with Alicia’s dream is putting down roots.
Thank you to every volunteer, donor, church, business, organization, board member, friend & neighbor who has helped Family Outreach Community Center get to this moment.
This building belongs to our community, & we can’t wait to fill it with love.
Welcome home, FOCC. 💙🏡

We are feeling especially grateful today for our friends at Stronghurst United Methodist Church, who recently collected ...
09/29/2026

We are feeling especially grateful today for our friends at Stronghurst United Methodist Church, who recently collected an amazing 50 jars of peanut butter for FOCC!😋🥜
Peanut butter is one of those pantry staples that does so much. It’s a great source of protein, it’s filling, shelf-stable, kid-friendly, & there are so many ways to enjoy it. From a simple PB&J to spreading it on toast, crackers, fruit or adding it to a meal. And for our families, having nutritious staples like this available in their pantry can make a real difference.🥪
But beyond the jars themselves, we see something even bigger: 50 jars represent 50 acts of kindness from people who thought about their neighbors & decided to help.
Thank you, Stronghurst United Methodist Church, for loving your community so well & helping us keep our pantry shelves stocked for the families we serve. Your generosity makes its way into the homes of our neighbors, & we are so very thankful!
Thank you for helping us help others!💙🥜

🛍️CLEARING OUT & DEALING IT UP!🛍️Family Outreach Community Center is doing a little FALL CLEAN-OUT! 🍂🍁Come check out our...
09/28/2026

🛍️CLEARING OUT & DEALING IT UP!🛍️

Family Outreach Community Center is doing a little FALL CLEAN-OUT! 🍂🍁
Come check out our rummage sale & find yourself some treasures! There’s a little bit of everything!
🎉FILL A BAG FOR JUST $5!🎉

📅 Monday–Thursday 9/28–10/8
⏰ 9:30 AM–3:00 PM
📍 Family Outreach Community Center
410 Main Street Stronghurst

Bring a friend, we’ll supply the bag & come see what you can find!🛍️
$5. Fill it up. Take it home. It’s a bargain!👏👏
Come help us make some room while you find some great deals!💙

We are so grateful for the generosity of our Miss Henderson County Fair Queen Jr. Miss Collins Greer & one of her runner...
09/17/2026

We are so grateful for the generosity of our Miss Henderson County Fair Queen Jr. Miss Collins Greer & one of her runners-up, Olivia Battin. They recently held food drives benefiting Family Outreach Community Center! 💕👑🥫
These young ladies from Mercer County collected 2 incredible tables full of food to help stock our pantry shelves & provide for our families right here in Henderson County.
We love seeing neighboring communities come together to help one another.💖✨
Thank you, girls, for using your crowns & your hearts to make a difference! Your generosity have touched the lives of many of our Henderson County neighbors. We appreciate you!
Thank you for helping us help others.💙

Fresh from the garden!🫑🍅🥒🌶️We’ve been blessed all summer long by generous gardeners sharing their harvest with Family Ou...
09/16/2026

Fresh from the garden!🫑🍅🥒🌶️
We’ve been blessed all summer long by generous gardeners sharing their harvest with Family Outreach Community Center, & yesterday West Central High School’s Community Garden brought us bags of fresh veggies!
Started by teacher Bob Fleming through our Regional Office of Education #33’s 21st Century Grant, this garden is truly a student effort. They water, w**d & harvest throughout the summer, sharing the bounty with our community & with us at Family Outreach Community Center.
Fresh produce is such a special treat for our guests! We are so grateful for these students & everyone who helps our community grow.💚🌱

Address

410 E Main Street
Stronghurst, IL
61480

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 4am
Tuesday 9am - 4am
Wednesday 9am - 4am
Thursday 9am - 4am

Telephone

(309) 924-1872

Website

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