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Someone noticed. Someone spoke. Someone began to listen. Someone wanted to help. Someone initiated change. Someone had a vision. Many began to have hope.

Ten years ago, Terry McLeod (then the Mancelona middle school principal) and much of his staff, estimated that they were spending as much as 90 percent of their time with troubled children; kids at risk and in crises of all kinds: mental, physical, emotional, psychological and social. Mr. McLeod has since died, but part of his legacy will be that he did not accept the status quo. He realized that he was in a loosing game, and had the will and intelligence to seek change for his game plan.

This will keep the pilot light of hope alive for many. One of his first steps was to contact Gary Knapp who was Assistant Director of the Northwest Michigan Council of Governments. Mr. Knapp's focus was criminal justice at the time.

He and Mr. McLeod shared an awareness and knowledge of the impact that high numbers of needy people had on the society as a whole. They agreed that something had to change, and they began to compose a vision.

Fulfilling a vision takes dedication. Fulfilling the survival needs of many takes money. They applied for and received a $400,000 grant from the Kellogg Foundation. The seeds of change could be planted, nurtured and harvested with such a boost. In the middle school, a new counselor was hired as well as a day care administrator. A Community Development Coordinator was added to oversee a flagship program called "Project S.H.A.R.E." ("School and Home Alliance for Restructured Education").

It became the metaphorical equivalent of calling in the cavalry, and to so many in the Mancelona community, the sound of bugles was music to their ears. They began to feel and then believe that they had not been forgotten, and that real help was on the way. At the middle school, change was almost immediate, visible, and dramatic.

A few years into the project, as if by divine fate, the state announced a new grant program out of its Health and Human Services department that would fund pilot ventures for three Family Services Centers. The new Mancelona effort had a head start on other applicants, and won a grant of $154,000. That award became seed money for building of the resource center's current facility, but more importantly added terrific momentum to the programs' outreach capabilities and served as a ballistic bludgeon to the negative effects of poverty in the area. Services were expanded with the move out of the middle school facilities.

Amazing to all associated with the center is the fact that ten years have elapsed since its inception. An anniversary celebration is planned for early August, but already staff and administrators are thinking back on the many people who have been assisted and supported by the center. Services Coordinator Marcie Grabruck thinks back on the last decade and says, "There are literally 1,000's of people that we have helped, and they each have a different story."

Gary Knapp remains with the center as its Director of Service Operations.

He speaks with pride of his staff, their dedication, the progress that has been made, the continued broadening of their service area, and the facility that has become a convenient hub of support.

"We have always called our efforts client based services. What we give is a leg up not a hand out. Our name is now a bit misleading because we service the entire county. No one in Antrim County is turned away for any reason."

The Resource Center's philosophy and vision are simple, whereas their financial support (from the school, the state, and continuing grants) can be a bit more complicated. Knapp describes their service objectives as, "Repositioning health and human services and improving the quality of life for our clients. This facility is located here because of a data-based decision that will allow us to serve the most people and be convenient for the largest number of people in need."

The location of the center defies a longstanding paradigm that social services need to be located in imposing governmental buildings typically at a county seat.

According to Knapp, "County seats are not always where most people in need are living with the effects of poverty, and those people often cannot afford transportation to those offices or are too intimidated to do so." With ten years of experience behind them, those working at the center have continued to evolve. Today, the facility is as welcome as it is welcoming to all.

Marcie Grabruck sees to that with her unending capacity for caring. According to Mr. Knapp, "Marcie embodies the function of this center. She knits all the services together."

Grabruck talks about everyone's commitment at the center to care about the "whole" person. "I have been trained by life experiences. I am the mom these people need when they come in. I'm not a trained this or that, just a common person who is not threatening to those who are in need."

Along with her kindness, however Grabruck has become an expert at recognizing peoples' needs and the resources available to answer those needs.

"I give them as much hope and opportunity as I can. We make a plan for each client and then we all try to help them reach their goals."

Those available resources to accomplish goals are extensive as typified by this real example shared by Mrs. Grabruck. Recently a pregnant teenage mother, toting an infant son came to the resource center seeking help. She was gathered in by the staff with open arms.

She is now part of the health department's W.I.C. (Woman, Infants and Children) food and nutrition program where she receives maternal and infant support services along with formula and food. She will be attended by a home health nurse when her new baby is born. She sees a dentist at the center and a breast-feeding specialist. Part of her plan also includes counselor support at the Women's Resource Center, and she visits the Ironmen Health Center for her own health as well that of her current child.

This woman is using only a fraction of what is available at no charge from the center. If you are a person with needs or know of a person who could use the kind of "whole person" care that is the center's focus, you owe it to yourself to visit.

The Mancelona Family Resource Center makes a statement about how we in Antrim County take care of those who have the least. If indeed this is how we as a society will be judged, we can be very proud of the work being done and offered there. There is goodness in this place, and as Mr. Knapp has describes their assistance as a "leg up", so it is rewarding for us all to see everyone with the ability, chance and honor to stand on their own two feet.