Where can someone you care about find help in these trying times? On your way to the new library, you might have noticed the Southern Regional Center (SRC). Many of us do not know what is in this building. But with all the changes that COVID-19 is producing, it could be useful to all of us, including our family members, neighbors, or friends, to know what it is. Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing Center Director Richard Hayner to learn what the center offers to our Wake County citizens.
More people need public services now than ever before in our lifetimes. But because of all the threats to SRC staff from COVID-19, it seems harder than ever to provide the services they need. Despite the difficulties, the staff are stepping up to the challenge with the aid of technology. Unlike other staff members, Mr. Hayner cannot work online. When people call for troubleshooting, there needs to be supervisors at a central location to help.
I learned that the SRC offers a host of services that we all pay for with our Wake County taxes. It is the oldest of three regional centers of Wake County (the others are in the east and north of the county). Its largest department is Human Services that provides economic support, child welfare, and health services.
It takes the right questions, to learn about the SRC. We can get its answers without physically going to the building. Since the lockdown, staff have been doing much of their work over the phone or internet. People can read their long list of services on the website at http://www.wakegov.com/humanservices/locations/src. This article will help you ask some of the important questions that lead people to the SRC.
Do you know a woman who is pregnant or has a baby and needs medical or nutrition services? Is there anyone hungry in the household?
Tell her about Wake County’s Women’s Infants and Children Program (called WIC). It serves women with babies under 6 months, breast-fed babies less than a year old, and children under 5 years. There is an easy form to apply for services that anyone can find by doing a Google search for “Wake County WIC” or by calling 919-250-4720. Once people have their eWIC card, it is easy to use and the food choices are healthy including:
Fresh foods like milk, cheese, eggs, fruits, vegetables, beans, peas, and lentils.
Prepared foods like peanut butter, cereal, whole-grain bread, brown rice, tortillas, juice, tofu, or a soy-based beverage.
Canned fish like chunk-light tuna or salmon.
Infant foods including formula, cereals, fruits, and vegetables.
Do you know somebody whose older children are hungry?
If so, the SRC can provide vouchers for them to use at the grocery store to buy healthy food. Applicants must have a social security number, or they need to apply for one first. Once this detail is taken care of, they can call the center and a staff member will help them fill out the long application form. If they paid taxes, it would be a good idea to retrieve their most recent tax return, so that they can verify their income. Also, the staff can provide professional help regarding healthy nutrition.
Do you know someone who needs medical care for themselves or their children but cannot afford it?
How about an elderly parent who needs a physician but is afraid of costs, or anyone needing long-term care? How about a person with mental health problems who could benefit from treatment, or a person afraid they might have a communicable disease? How about a new mother who wants more information on breast feeding? Help for any of these problems is only a phone call away.
Do you know children who have not completed their vaccination schedule?
The Center for Disease Control of the United States is worried that parents are afraid to go to their doctor’s office to get vaccines for their children. The 14 diseases that vaccines protect against can be horrible, with half of them causing death at rates greater than COVID-19. Hopefully, within a year or so we may have a vaccine for COVID-19. But parents
should not wait to help prevent their children from the debilitating side effects of these other diseases that can cause paralysis, brain damage, or failure of major organs. The SRC’s health service helps people obtain these vaccines for children.
Do you know someone who needs a better job or at least a job?
The SRC works hard to connect employers and job seekers with the help of the local NCWorks Career Center. That program is housed in the SRC building. It has our state’s complete set of employment tools for job seekers. A visitor to the center or its online site can search jobs, create résumés, or find education and training. The center’s effectiveness is further supported by services to employers that help them find candidates, post jobs, and search labor market information. Such facility-based partnerships are a big part of the SRC’s effort and NCWorks has some brand recognition. Before COVID-19 hit, I saw Mr. Hayner at several Chamber of Commerce events, talking with employers. Such public-private partnerships work with other parts of SRC to enable people to improve their lives. The career counselors at the SRC help 100 people per month to get new jobs, education, training, or career advice.
What is the SRC doing about the stay-at-home orders?
As of my interview with Mr. Hayner, the county manager has still ordered the center to be closed. But there are a lot of services that can be done by phone or over the internet. Most of the services are still running. Because of job losses, especially important among current services are those that provide food, nutrition counseling, and increases in Medicaid. As of this writing, the offices are not open yet for doing prenatal care and women’s health and immunization, but they should be open soon.
How will the SRC be different when it opens?
Discussions are going on right now to answer those questions. Some high priorities include social distancing, plexiglass between staff and customers, and obtaining protective equipment for staff. The county is even housing homeless in hotels where they are less likely to get infected and have special quarantine quarters for those already infected.
What else, besides human services, is being provided at the SRC?
There are environmental and community services, which conduct inspections for new construction along with water quality and septic permitting. There is a revenue department where people can pay county taxes at the center if they do not want to do so online. There are onsite partners like Monarch Services, which provides assistance with behavioral and mental health concerns. These can be especially valuable for families with members who suffer severe and persistent mental illness problems. There is a walk-in clinic with telemedicine support for assessment and therapy.
The CDC and its counterparts across the world have reported that crime has found its way home. The Economist magazine reported a few weeks ago that domestic violence increased during the early weeks of lockdown, while crime outside homes decreased. Child welfare in cases of abuse and neglect is an involuntary issue. The county will protect its children if their parents cannot. For others there is InterAct, which is the only provider of domestic violence and sexual assault services in Wake County. They come to the SRC twice per week to provide support needed for victims, placement options, plan development, and community outreach assessment. InterAct has an excellent track record of changing lives for the better.
Think of the formidable list of human needs mentioned above. There was hunger, child abuse and neglect, breastfeeding, vaccinations, elderly care, homeless support, communicable diseases, spousal abuse, job placement and training, and of course, even a place to pay taxes. There are many grateful for help with their part of that list.
Mr. Hayner reports that transportation is the biggest barrier to receiving help. Once, there was also a stigma attached to those in need. But crises impact people who never needed it before. The stigma began to decline when the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008 caused more people to use the center’s services. Now the burdens of COVID-19 have accelerated the decline of stigma. Crises like these remind us of some of the important reasons why we pay our taxes. Inside the SRC’s building or at home with their phones and computers are many compassionate staff members with tools provided by our government to help. Their work reminds us that today, more than ever, we are learning how we are all in this together.
